The Stakes Are High
by twilight37
Summary: Now graduated from college, Edward and Bella continue their journey of life and love with their two beautiful daughters, Aveline and Lucy. When they take a big trip to Australia, the secrets of their past and present collide, making the stakes high for the family and their friends. (SEQUEL.)
1. Faded Dreams

_CHAPTER ONE  
People Throw Rocks At Things That Shine - Life Makes Look Look Hard - The Stakes Are High _

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_BPOV_

Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're going to get. Life also moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it. There are so many beautiful things about life - falling in love, looking at flowers, discovering something new - that we take it for granted. Every day is a day we never get back. As time keeps ticking, life flies by faster than we even realize it.

I huffed heavily as the treadmill slowed from the level eight pace. My feet pounded against the floor; heart beating faster than a train. As the treadmill (or _dreadmill _as I prefer to call it) came to a stop. I gripped onto the handle bars, and leaned over in exasperation.

"Great run." Rosalie smiled as she effortlessly strode off of the treadmill beside me. Her long, golden hair bounced in a high ponytail while I watched her grab herself a cup of icy cold water, and wiped her face with the white gym towel.

"Yeah." I panted, moving my hands onto my knees. "'Great' run."

"Come on, Bella. It'll get easier." My health-guru best friend, Rosalie, encouraged me. We've been best friends since high school, and even though she moved halfway across the country, we make time to visit, and talk.

She had barely lost any weight from her pregnancy two years ago. Three days after her daughter, Bridgett, was born, she was already back in the gym; not even a month later, she was sporting a bikini like she had never had a baby in the first place.

I rolled my eyes and resisted the urge to mumble, "look who's talking." She handed me the towel that was wrapped around her neck, which I quickly used to wipe my own face. My little girls - Aveline and Lucy - are four and three years old. I had hardly lost the weight from Ava when Lucy came around. Now I'm pudgy; nowhere near where I want to be.

I had Aveline at seventeen in my junior year of high school. Unlike most teen pregnancies, I had wanted her. Edward, used to be boyfriend, and now husband, and I planned to have her. Her sister, on the other hand, was a complete surprise. Once we had graduated high school, we found out about Lucy.

The pregnancy was difficult. Edward was trying to juggle school and work, support the three of us, and pay for the apartment that we were renting in Seattle. While he did that, I took care of Aveline, and planned for our wedding. It was a rough time for the both of us - a test of our love. We made it through. Now, three years later, we have the beautiful family we've always dreamt of; Edward is graduating tonight, and already has a paying job in the E.R.

"What time is it?" I asked once I caught my breath.

Rosalie glanced down at her watch. "Four."

I sighed. "We should probably be headed back. The ceremony starts at seven, and we still have to get ourselves ready, and the kids."

"And our husbands." She grinned.

Rosalie and her husband, Emmett, Edward's brother, flew in all the way from Chicago for the week to be here for Edward's graduation. He's finished four incredibly long years of school, and I couldn't be more proud of him. Not only for doing well, but for supporting our family, and somehow always being there for bedtime.

I laughed, and stepped off the treadmill. Everything felt wobbly. I had to take a minute to regain my balance before I could actually walk back to Rosalie's small, red Jeep. She hopped into the driver's seat, and started down the road to our friend, Alice's, house.

Alice, my longtime best friend, and Edward's sister, moved down to Seattle a few months after my little girl, Lucy, was born with her husband Jasper. She's been working on starting her own online clothing store for the past few months, which means that when she's not out shopping, she's glued to her laptop.

She offers to watch the girls for me when I need to go run errands, or go on the occasional date night with Edward. Alice is set on the fact that she will _never_ have kids. She loves my girls, Bridget too, but she wants to be an aunt and nothing more. I always shake my head at her, but I try to respect her decision.

Rosalie and I walked up to the apartment and tapped on the door. Moments later, Alice opened the door. Her usual black pixie cut was growing out. It was already to her shoulders now. Her eyes were a dark blue that, even on her lazy days like today, were happy. She fell back onto the couch and rested her computer on her stomach.

I looked around and saw Lucy standing by the window.

"Hi, baby." I knelt down on my knee and smiled as Lucy ran into my arms. She has a baby face, and chubby cheeks; pink lips, and curly hair that falls in dark brown ringlets to just below her chin. Like her father, she has bright green eyes, and the same pale skin as everyone else in the Cullen family. She fell into my arms, and I pulled her into a tight hug, kissing the top of her head. "Did you miss me?"

She just smiled at me. I looked over her shoulder and saw my oldest daughter, Aveline, holding something behind her back as she skidded towards me. She's four years old, and is the spitting image of myself. Her hair is long, halfway down her back, dark brown, and dead straight. Pale skin, red cheeks, and thin lips. There are bits of her father in her, too, though. Especially the eyes. Green just like her father and sister.

"Whatcha got there?"

Aveline smiled and shoved a piece of paper in my face. I took it from her and looked at the four stick figures on the paper. "One is me… and one is you and daddy… and Lucy…." She pointed as she spoke. I had green hair, and Edward had a blue nose.

"We'regoing to have to put that on the refrigerator." I stood up and grabbed her hand. "Well we're out of here. See you tonight." I said to Alice. She waved me off - she was clearly too busy to say goodbye. I looked around for Lucy, grabbed her hand, then walked them out to the Volvo.

In the car, Aveline begged me to put on "I Knew You Were Trouble." We listened to that one song the entire car ride home - fifteen minutes. This isn't the first time she's done this, either. If you do the math, that's listening to the same song about five times in a row. But I'll do anything to keep her occupied in the car, since she tends to get a little restless. I watched her in the rearview mirror, and chuckled at her over-exaggerated dance moves. I know _exactly _where she gets that from. I couldn't dance to save my life, and clearly neither can she.

I pulled into our empty parking space, and got both of the girls out of the car. Aveline clutched onto her picture and ran ahead of me to push the buttons on the elevator. Lucy held onto my hand and put her thumb in her mouth. I quickly yanked her hand back. We've been trying to wean her off of that. Lucy pouted.

We went up in the elevator, and to the room. Once I unlocked the door, Aveline ran inside and instantly jumped onto Edward. "Daddy!" She squealed. "Daddy daddy daddy!"

Edward was sitting on the couch watching some kind of movie. Earlier today he had been with Emmett - he must have gotten home earlier than expected. He paused what he was watching and sat up, letting Aveline sit in his lap.

"Look what I drew!" She gave him the picture from Alice's house.

"That's amazing, honey. Why does mommy have green hair?"

Ava instantly burst into a fit of giggles. "Daddy you're so _silly_!" She said as she squirmed off of his lap, and ran to put her picture onto the refrigerator. Lucy let go of my hand and sprinted after her sister.

I laughed and slumped myself over the edge of the couch so I was laying in Edward's lap. He put his hand on my stomach and grinned. I was a hot mess: hair in a ponytail, running shorts, and a wet, sweaty, t-shirt. How Edward could even look at me right now was beyond me.

"How was the gym?"

"Ugh." I groaned. "Terrible. I hate working out."

"Should I take back the gym membership?" He asked in all seriousness. Edward had gotten me a gym membership for my twenty-second birthday. At first I was mortified. Was this his way of getting me to lose weight? Then I flashbacked to the hundreds of times I'd complained about the baby weight, and being fat… he was only being helpful. Now, three months later, I've decided to start using it.

I sighed. "No. I need it."

Edward kissed me. "I think you look beautiful either way, love."

"Even with 'green hair?'" I teased, and he laughed.

"Even with 'green hair.'"

"Okay." I said, jumping up from my comfortable spot on the couch. I looked over at the clock. We didn't have much longer until the ceremony. "I'm going to get the girls ready."

"Need any help?"

I shook my head. "Nope. You got get yourself ready."

"Alright." He grinned, and rested his hands on my hips, kissing me again. His eyes seemed to sparkle even in the dim light of the living room. I fought back the passion that was etching to attack his lips, and distracted myself with the girls.

I ran the bath in their bathroom, then called the two of them over. Moments later, there was a stampede of footsteps, and Ava and Lucy were standing in the doorway smiling. They've been getting better with bath time lately. I watched as the grabbed their towels, and, once the tub was full, dropped their clothes in a pile, and jumped in.

There was a big splash, and they were suddenly blowing bubbles all over the bathroom. I sat back while they played - lately they've been pretending to be princesses - and thought about what I was going to wear tonight myself.

I don't have many dresses, and the ones that I do hardly fit anymore. I'm by no means fat, but I'm not as toned and thin as I used to be, or even as I'd like to be. Maybe that's the sacrifice for having kids. Thinking over it, it's a pretty fair trade off. I'd rather have these little monsters than a body like Rosalie's.

Then again, it could just me being lazy. I've been so busy with the girls these past few years that there hasn't been any time for me to go to the gym. With Edward working late, and Aveline wanting to try out extra-curricular, and fast food being so cheap and convenient…

Lucy shrieked in the bathtub. I snapped from my train of thought and saw her laughing to her hearts content. I took a deep breath and knelt by the side of the bathtub. I washed Lucy's hair, and watched while Aveline attempted to wash her own. She's the most independent four year old I know.

I wrapped both of them in a towel, and ran them to their bedroom. Once Lucy was old enough for a big girl bed, we decided to move them into one bedroom, and use the other room as a playroom. I don't think they mind sleeping in the same room as each other. It gives them company.

I dressed Lucy in a red dress with a long sleeved white shirt underneath, black stockings, and little Mary Jane shoes. I brushed out her wet hair and tied it half up with a black ribbon while Aveline looked through her drawers.

"Mommy I dunno what to wear."

"Why don't I help you?" I offered just as I finished brushing Lucy's hair. She crawled away from me, then got onto her feet and jumped onto her bed.

"No!" Aveline cried.

"Please, honey?" I asked. "Mommy still has to get ready."

She frowned. "Only once. I wanna do it next time."

"Okay." I agreed, and quickly picked out an outfit for her. Hers was similar to her sisters - a pink dress a bow in the middle, long sleeved white shirt, black stockings, and Mary Jane's. I handed her a hair brush, and she instantly started running it through her long hair. "Mommy is going to go get dressed, okay?"

"Shh. Mommy, I'm trying to con… constipate."

"No, no, sweetie. _Concentrate._"

"Mommy!"

"Alright, alright." I said apologetically, then rushed off to my bedroom to get myself ready.

We had to leave in twenty minutes, which meant no shower for me. I'd be lucky if I could even find something to wear. I felt disgusting not having showered after the gym, but I didn't have that luxury. I splashed my face with water and sprayed Bath & Bodyworks all over. I grabbed the first thing I knew fit me properly: a black peter pan collared dress that bunched nicely at the waist. I hopped into black tights and the first pair of shoes that hit my feet. Black is a flattering color - that's why I picked it.

Just as I was about to look for my makeup bag, Edward walked into the bathroom wearing black pants and a button down shirt. A tie draped around his neck untied. He held out both of his arms as if to show himself off. "How do I look?"

"You look fantastic." I murmured as I pulled his tie into the final not, and gave it a little tug. Edward grinned and leaned down to kiss me on the lips. His green eyes sparkled into mine, and I couldn't help but wrap my arms around him, pulling him close. I nestled my head into his chest and closed my eyes, taking in his sweet sent. "I love you." I whispered.

"I love you too."

I glanced over at the clock, which was flashing bright green. "Oh, dammit! We're going to be late. We'd better get going." I quickly pulled away, and reached for my purse that was slung over the chair in the corner. Edward smacked my ass as I headed for the door. I turned to glare at him, watching as he grinned playfully, then went to take care of the kids.

"Mommy look!" Aveline exclaimed. "Look!" She cried again. "We did our own makeup."

Lucy giggled in response. "Makeup…" She covered her hands over her mouth.

"Aveline!" I gasped, and ran over to her, my heels clicking against the floor as I did. "What have I told you about playing with mommy's makeup?" There was pink lipstick all over her face. Blush on her forehead; mascara underneath her eyes. Lucy was no better. "Clean this up. _Now_."

Her bottom lip quivered, and she soon burst into tears. Lucy stared at her sister, as though she didn't know what to do, before she herself burst into tears. I looked at Edward with pleading eyes. "Can you help me clean them up?"

It took us an extra ten minutes, but we did it. Aveline screamed every time I tried to wipe her face, until I finally gave up, and let her do it herself. That seemed to clam her at least a little. Once we were finally ready to go, and officially late, we rushed out the door and to the car. We each buckled one kid into a car seat, then jumped in the front and sped off. I did my makeup in the car while Edward drove. Quick powder, winged eyeliner, and a quick red lipstick to top it all off.

Edward drove a little faster than he should have, and Aveline was begging us to play her song. It was all a little chaotic. I was just crossing my fingers that we actually made it there on time. Knowing us, we'd either make it with a minute to spare, or we'd be hopelessly late.

Fate seemed to be on our side today. When we parked the car, people were still walking in. Each of us still grabbed a kid and raced inside of the fancy auditorium. Edward put Aveline down, and gave me a kiss.

"Good luck, baby." I said. "I'm so proud of you."

He smiled, and kissed me again. "I couldn't have done it without you." We both smiled at each other before he raced off to meet his other graduates. I held onto my girls' hands and looked around for our friends. I'm almost positive that they'd be here by now. It took a few minutes, but when I heard Emmett's booming voice, I knew we had found them.

Aveline recognized his voice as well. When she saw him, she squealed and ran towards him screaming, "UNCLE EM!" I quickly followed behind her, and saw that the whole crew sitting together. Alice pointed to three empty seats next to her, which we immediately took.

"Where's Bridget?" I asked Rosalie when I realized she wasn't with her.

"Babysitter. She doesn't like sitting through things."

"Gotcha." I nodded my head.

The lights were fading. A man suddenly walked towards the podium holding a microphone. I folded my arms over my chest while I waited for Edward's name to be called.

There was a cheesy introduction speech before they started with the names. I told Aveline to listen to daddy's name. I bit my lip and watched the stage intently. Watching a graduation as a spectator is almost as nerve wrecking as being the graduate.

Within seven minutes of starting the ceremony, they were already in the C's. They were moving through this faster than lighting. I listened carefully. When they finally called "Edward Cullen," I smiled, and pointed to the stage. Both of our girls watched their dad walk across the stage.

"Daddy!" Lucy exclaimed, and clapped her hands together. A few people around us 'awed' at her. I smiled and put a finger to my lips. She did exactly as I did, which I, like everyone else, found to be absolutely adorable.

The ceremony went by much faster than I had anticipated it to. Thirty minutes later, they congratulated the congratulating class. Hats were suddenly flying in the air, and people were cheering. We all clapped, then got out of our seats to find Edward in the sea of black graduation gowns.

Alice was holding Lucy for me, while Aveline clung onto Emmett's leg. I looked around frantically for my husband; I couldn't wait to see him.

"There! There he is. Edward!" Jasper called from behind me.

Edward's head snapped up, and he hurried towards us. The moment I saw him I wrapped my arms around his neck and stood on my tiptoes to kiss him. He chuckled and wrapped his arms around my waist, diploma still in hand. "Congratulations, baby." I grinned and kissed him again.

"Thank you." He smiled, and, wrapped his arm around me while the rest of our group congratulated him. Edward scooped Lucy and Aveline into his arms and held them while we discussed what the plan was now.

"I vote we all go out for dinner to celebrate." Emmett offered.

"Why not?" Edward shrugged. I usually don't like having the girls up late, but, for one night, they would be okay. We all agreed on The Cheesecake Factory, so we hopped into our cars, and sped off before the hundreds of other families got there.

Leaving like we did was a good plan. We were seated almost immediately, and had a nice booth by the fireplace too. I sat next to Edward, with a girl on either side of us. Lucy was already beginning to yawn. I had a feeling that she was going to pass out before her food was even here. Aveline's eyes were thick with sleep, but she was sitting up straight and coloring to keep herself awake. She would fight sleep to the death.

A waitress came by and ordered our drinks. We all had wine - except for the girls, who I let have a Shirley Temple, despite the ridiculous amount of sugar that was loaded in it. When she came back and handed us our wine, Alice tapped a fork against her glass, and cleared her throat. "I have an announcement to make."

"YOU'RE PREGNANT." Emmett gasped.

"No!" Alice cried. "No, that is most definitely _not_ what I was going to say." She shook her head in disbelief as if her having a kid was an outrageous sin. "Anyway, what I was going to say was… " A pause. "I'm going on vacation… to Australia."

"_Shut up_." Rosalie gasped and hit her arm.

"You're kidding."

"Why in the hell are you going to Australia?"

"I have to go for work." Jasper explained. "And they offered to pay for Alice as well." The excitement was written all over the both of their faces.

"But that's not the important part." Alice said.

"She tells us she's going on vacation to Australia, but, of course, that's 'not the important part.'" I commented very sarcastically. Edward chuckled beside me.

Even sitting down for dinner, his arm was wrapped around my waist; his thumb casually rubbing my thigh. Ever since Lucy was born, Edward has become much for intimate. Not in a bad way, - he's not putting his hands all over me at inappropriate times, and we're not making out the first chance we get - but we have been doing _more_ of that kind of stuff.

Alice rolled her eyes before she continued. "I think you all should come with us."

I gave her a look. "You're kidding me, right?"

"Just - come on - please, hear me out." It's very hard to rationalize with a person like Alice, but I tried my best. "We've talked about this before. Wouldn't it be amazing to get away from Seattle, even for just a week! We'd be on the beach… in a nice hotel… at the zoo… Aveline, Lucy, and Bridget would love it."

I looked over at Edward. Before I could even answer, he was shaking his head. "Sorry, Alice. That's just not even something we could consider right now."

I touched his arm. "We could look into it…"

"Bella." He said my name as though to say 'seriously?' "I think it's a little more important to take care of other things. Vacation isn't necessary."

I nodded my head. I wasn't in the mood to debate this right now. This is supposed to be a happy time for everyone, especially Edward. Even though he was being a little blunt about the situation, I couldn't be mad at him. In fact, it was Alice who I was mad at for even bringing this up. "Okay." I smiled. "That's fine."

"Bella - " Alice tried to intervene.

"It's true. Australia is a little far fetched, anyway." And we continued our dinner without another word of the conversation. But later that night, when the girls were in bed, and it was just Edward and I, it came up again.

I pulled the curtains back and looked out the window. The snow was falling hard, and even looking at it from behind the glass sent shivers up my spine. Still looking out into the dreary city, I said out loud, "you know, it's almost always raining here."

"Well," Edward said as he sat on the bed, "it _is _Seattle."

I sighed and let the curtain fall. "I know. It just gets so depressing sometimes." I walked over to the bed and plopped down next to him.

"We're in no position to move right now. You know that, right?"

"I wasn't suggesting that." I pulled my hair out of my face. "I like it here. We have our friends - well, most of them - and your school, and work…"

"Then what?" He sounded a little confused.

"I don't know." I shrugged my shoulders, then sighed. "Don't you think it'd be nice to just get out for a little while? I mean, would it really kill us to take a little vacation. It doesn't have to be Australia. Just somewhere. Anywhere."

"Baby." Edward said softly. "That's just not possible right now. I only just graduated - literally -and money's already tight…" He tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. "Don't be sad, love."

I thought about the price of plane tickets, and the hotel room, then how much it would cost to even do all of those things that Alice had suggested. Edward is right. It is a little far fetched.

"I'm not sad." I told him. "You're just right, and I hate that."

He grinned. "I usually am."

"Oh, shut up." I rolled my eyes. "Just kiss me already."

The thought of vacation didn't pop into my mind again that night.

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**I actually have this entire story planned out so I know what's going to happen. Have any ideas? Thanks for reading chapter one! If you haven't read the two stories before this, then I think that may clear up some things for you. (:**

**If you're not a new reader, then thanks for continuing the journey with me! I'm really excited for the chapters to come. You guys are wonderful people and I'm actually geeking out right now because this chapter is finally done. And because we're beginning a new story. This is so exciting!**

**Xoxo,  
Halley**


	2. Holes

**Over 200 emails all from you guys on just the first chapter. Wow! I'm so happy about that. Thank you so much! Sorry for the late delay in the chapter. Cross country season has started up and I've been super busy, especially since I'm a captain. BUT IT'S ALMOST 6,000 WORDS so maybe that makes up for it... :)**

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_BPOV_

It was seven in the morning, and Edward was just about to head off for work. Aveline was eating breakfast in the kitchen, Lucy was still asleep, and I was running around like a monkey on fire.

"Try to be home early today, okay?" I reminded Edward. "We're doing the Christmas tree today."

"Christmas tree." He nodded. "Got it."

"Okay, baby. Have a good day." I leaned in to kiss him. "I love you."

"Love you too. Tell the girls bye for me, too." Edward called as he walked out the door for another long day at work in the emergency room. Once he was gone, I closed the door, and picked up the phone.

Lucy has a doctor's appointment today, and rather than force her restless self to sit in an office for three hours, I opted for option two: daycare. On occasions, I drop the girls off at daycare. I try to teach them things at home, but I feel like putting them in a classroom environment is good for them. It teaches social skills and disciplines them. For Aveline, today was one of those special occasions.

I picked up the phone and called Alice. It was early, so I half expected her to not even pick up, but by the

"Hello?" The deep voice took me by surprise.

"Oh, Jasper." I said as my brain finally clicked.

"Hey, Bella." He said smoothly. "Were you looking for Alice? I can wake her up if you need me to."

Of course she was asleep. I sighed and blew a strand of hair out of my face. "If you could that'd be great. I need someone to take Ava to daycare while I bring Lucy to the doctor."

"No problem, Bella." He said. "I'll be at your apartment in ten minutes."

"Wait." I stopped him. "You don't have to come here. I mean, I didn't expect _you_ to - "

He laughed. "It's fine. Alice… well, she needs her beauty sleep, and it's not like I'm doing anything today."

"Alright." I said reluctantly. "Thanks, Jazz."

"Anytime."

I looked over at Aveline. She was sitting at the table scooping her favorite Dinosaur Egg Oatmeal into her mouth. It's the only oatmeal Edward and I can get her to eat, and she makes a complete mess out of herself when she does eat it. I went into super-mom mode when I realized I had ten minutes to clean her up and get her ready for school.

"Aveline, we have to get you ready now, okay?"

"But I'm not done eating!" She cried and puckered out her lip.

So we compromised. I stood behind her, and while she finished her dinosaur oatmeal, I pulled a brush through her tangled hair. She whined a little, but not nearly as much as normal. I clipped a bow on the top of her head and quickly wiped her face with a napkin.

The doorbell rang before I could get her dressed. I rushed over to the door and opened it. Jasper was standing there with a coffee in his hand, still wearing his sweatpants and white t-shirt from bed.

"Thank you _so _much." I said appreciatively. "I'll pay you back the gas money."

He rolled his eyes as if to say 'there'll be no such thing' and headed towards the kitchen, where Aveline had just finished up her oatmeal. She squealed and ran over to give Jasper a hug. He laughed and ratted her hair.

"How's my favorite Ava doing today?"

She grinned a toothy grin at him, and laughed, then looked over at me. I motioned for her to come over, and she quickly darted towards me. I held onto her hands - something I do to calm her down when she gets riled up - and looked her in the eye. "Sweetie," I said in a soft voice. "Jasper is going to take you to daycare today."

"Daycare!" She started jumping up and down.

"Yes, daycare." I nodded my head.

"Can I see Seth?"

"I'm sure that he'll be there."

This, of course, got her even more excited than she was before. I grabbed onto her hands again and showed her where her clothes were. "Now go get dressed really quickly so Jasper can take you."

Aveline took the clothes that were sitting on the couch and rushed into her bedroom. Moments later she was back with her arm only halfway through the sleeve. I got her backpack ready for her while she got her arm through the hole.

"I'm ready!" She nearly screamed once I got the backpack on her.

"Alright, off you go then. Have a good day. Mommy will be there at around lunch time."

Aveline nodded and grabbed onto Jasper. I walked them to the door, and waved as they walked down the hallway together. Once they were out of sight, I closed the door, and went to get Lucy from her bed. She was still asleep. If she knew that Aveline was going to daycare without her, it would have made for a not-so-happy-morning.

She was sleeping on her back with one arm sprawled across the bed, and the other curled next to her with her thumb in her mouth. I smiled at her childlike innocence before I kneeled on the floor by her bed.

"Lucy." I said, shaking her a little. "It's time to wake up."

She moaned a little and rolled over onto her belly. I moved from her bed and opened up her drawers. I pulled out a long sleeved red t-shirt, a black skirt, stockings, and knock-off Ugg boots. By the time I had pulled her clothes out, she was sitting up straight on her bed, yawning, and rubbing her green eyes.

"Hey there, sleepy head." I said and kissed her on the cheek.

I lifted her out of her bed and changed her diaper. She was still half asleep when I put a new one on her and was _still_ sleepy when I put her in her clothes. I brushed through her soft curls and swooped her into my arms. She nestled her head against my shoulder and closed my eyes as I walked out of the apartment and down to the Volvo.

Edward took the Metro to work this morning since I was in obvious need of the car. Lucy went right back to sleep as soon as I buckled her in. Not seeing the hurt in letting her sleep for an extra fifteen minutes, I hopped into the driver's seat and headed for the doctor's office.

I would have met Edward up for lunch, but we were at an entirely different hospital from him, which sucks. When Aveline was a baby, I met him in the cafeteria for lunch after her monthly checkups.

This hospital looks no different from his. The walls are all white, it smells too clean, and the low chatter and beeps from pagers go off every five seconds. I vow to myself every time I come in here that if I ever open a hospital, white will be the last color I ever use. You'd think bright colors would be better. At least they're happy. White is too boring; too bland.

"Lucy Cullen?" The nurse announced.

I looked down at the sleeping baby in my lap and sighed. "Lucy, come on, baby." I shook her a little. She groaned and looked at me with a very unhappy expression written on her face. I stood up and reached out for her hand. She scooted herself off of the edge of the seat, and slowly followed me as I walked down the long hallway.

We were brought to a little room and were told to wait. I already knew the procedure. Anyone whose been to a hospital before knows the monotonous waiting is worse than the appointment itself.

Today was no different, and to make matters worse, I had a grumpy two year old with me. She was upset that she hadn't gotten to eat this morning, and even more upset that we were at the doctor's office. She doesn't like coming here.

I tried to entertain her with the toys that were laying out, but she didn't seem interested. She sat in my lap and refused to do anything else. I held her until there was a small tap on the door, and the doctor walked in.

She shook my hand and introduced herself as Dr. McClain. After looking through Lucy's file, she put the manila folder down on her lap and folded her hands.

"How has she been doing recently?"

"She's been… herself."

"Any progression…?"

I shook my head. "Nope. No progression."

Dr. McClain walked over to us. I picked Lucy up and, after taking off her shirt, and revealing a pudgy tummy, put her down on the bed. The doctor then pressed her stethoscope against her chubby chest. Lucy cried a little at the touch. I put my hand on her shoulder and softly hushed her. Her whining quieted, but didn't fully go away. I pulled myself closer to her and hummed softly.

"All done, sweetie." The doctor said as she pulled the stethoscope away. "Heartbeat is strong. Now she hasn't eaten this morning, right?"

"No. I just woke up her up and we ran out the door. So we should be good for the morning…" My voice dropped to nothing. I watched as she pulled a pair of gloves out of her drawers and slipped them onto her hands.

I looked down at my baby and frowned. I hate doing this to her. "Come see, momma." I said. She held her arms out for me, and I reached down to pull her into my chest. Still holding her, I took a seat on the wrinkly paper, and rocked her back and forth.

The doctor came right up beside us gently grabbed Lucy's arm. She instantly stiffened when she realized what was going on. Despite her cries and attempts to thrash away, I held onto her a little more tightly, and cried to calm her down. The doctor held a needle in her other hand, then, on the count of three, quickly pricked my baby's arm.

I had to look away. I don't do needles - clearly Lucy had gotten that from me. The moment the needle broke the skin, she screamed louder than I had ever heard her scream before. The doctor quickly covered her "boo boo" with a pink Hello Kitty Band-Aid.

"Make sure she gets something to eat." The doctor told us. "And we'll see you guys in two weeks." She looked at Lucy and smiled. "I'll see you soon, sweetie, okay?"

Lucy hid her face into my chest. I mouthed a 'sorry' to the woman, and she simply laughed. I waved as I walked out of the hospital room. Lucy was in my arms; I could still feel the tears running down her cheeks. I felt a twinge of pain for her.

I scheduled her next appointment, then headed back to the car. I felt a raindrop fall on my head, so I quickened my pace to beat the storm. I had just buckled Lucy in when the downpour started. I slammed her door shut and ran to the driver's seat.

"You okay, baby?" I asked once we were both safe and warm inside of the car.

She puckered out her bottom lip and looked at me with sad eyes.

"Let's go get something to eat."

And even though I was trying to get back in shape, I pulled into the first McDonald's I saw. It was pouring down rain, but this McDonald's had a play place in it, and Lucy loves playing in them. I put on my coat and zipped the hood up, jumped out, grabbed Lucy, and made a mad dash for the door.

I put her down once we were in. When she saw the slide at the back of the room, her eyes lit up, and she pointed. I smiled and knelt down to her level. "Yes, it's a slide. Can you say 'slide' for mommy?"

She kept pointing at it. I sighed and held her hand while we waited in line. It was around 11:30, which I thought was fine for lunch; I ordered Lucy a Happy Meal for Lucy, but I wasn't sure what to get myself.

Burger… or salad… chicken nuggets… or salad…damn dieting. It's much harder than it sounds. I gave up and ordered a burger and fries with a large coffee. Since it wasn't too crowded, we got our food fairly quickly.

"Why don't you go pick out a table?" I said to Lucy.

She ran down the aisles, her boots thumping as she went, before she picked the table closet to the slide area. Figures. I took a seat on one side of the booth, and Lucy climbed up next to me. I helped her get her food out, then started eating myself, beginning with the coffee.

"Mommy." Lucy said.

I swallowed my coffee. "What's wrong, honey?"

She pointed to the slide again.

"No, you have to eat first. Then we can play." I picked up one of the fries on her napkin and handed it to her. Seeming to have understood me, she took the fry and put it in her mouth.

We finished eating within ten minutes. As soon as she was done eating, Lucy tugged on my sleeve and pointed to the slide again. Sensing her eagerness, I cleaned up our mess, then brought her into the play area. The only thing she likes to do is slide down the little kid slide. One time I brought both of the girls, and Aveline tried to get her to go down the big slide. Needless to say, _I_ ended up having to climb up that damn contraption to get her down because Lucy refused to slide down.

I sat on the bench by the little slide and watched as Lucy went down over, and over, and over again. She squealed every time she went down like she was in Disney World. That's one thing I like about Lucy. She usually isn't too hard to please.

A woman sitting at a bench across the room looked at me. "She's too cute."

I smiled. "Thanks."

"How old is she?"

"She's two. Almost three."

"Oh." The woman sounded surprised. "She looks much younger."

I nodded my head and forced a smile onto my face.

There were complications when Lucy was born. I went into Postpartum Hemorrhage minutes after delivering her, and nearly bled to death. At the time of her birth, they told me her shoulder was stuck, and that was why I needed to push harder; why they were so panicked. That was only the cover story so I wouldn't freak out.

The umbilical cord had wrapped around her neck. My baby was suffocating. Edward was the one who told me when we got home. At first, I didn't think it was too much of a problem. I was irritated that they didn't tell me the truth, and I sent a nasty email, but there wasn't much to complain about; my baby was alive, and she was there.

Edward wanted to make sure she was okay. The doctor's in San Francisco had told us she was good to go, but he wasn't so sure. To this day, I'm forever thankful for taking her in.

We were told about the complications the birth may have caused for her. The lack of oxygen supply to her brain - even during that short period of time - was a strong contributor for defects.

At one month old, we took our baby in our a series of testing. We were told that she was likely to suffer from development issues later on. I didn't believe it at first. I refused to. The denial stuck with until I finally started to notice.

Lucy doesn't talk much. Most other kids her age can hold somewhat of a conversation; she can't. She says a few words here and there, points, and repeats the things that she hears. She's smaller than others; her demeanor is more infant-like than kids I've seen. She's still in a diaper, and sucks her thumb constantly.

We take her in to the doctor every three weeks for shots that are supposed to help with her development. At daycare, she goes to the speech class all by herself, and at home, I have to teach her separately from Aveline.

There's nothing I can do to change what happened to her. As much as I wish that I could, I can't. This is how my daughter is, and probably always will be, but that doesn't make me love her any less.

Lucy came down the slide again. This time she ran over and fell into me. I smiled and scooped her into my arms, kissing her on the cheek. "Hi, little monster." I tucked her hair behind her ear. "Are you ready to go get your sister?"

She started biting on her thumb. I took it out of her mouth, and we headed back to the car. The rain had died down, so we weren't sprinting to escape from the harsh rain. It was a short drive from McDonald's to the daycare - maybe ten minutes.

We jumped out of the car and were headed inside when I heard a familiar voice calling my name from behind. I turned and saw one of my great friends, Violet, smiling at me. Violet and I met in a "baby group" back when I was pregnant with Aveline, and she with her son, Seth. We bonded instantly. Both of us were pregnant teenagers; I think having someone to talk to about that was what helped us connect.

"Violet!" I exclaimed as I walked over to her.

"Hey." She smiled. "How have you been?" Her striking blue eyes made their way down to Lucy. "Hi sweetie." She waved shyly, and Violet laughed.

"I've been great. Just picking up Aveline." I said. "We had a doctors appointment to go to this morning."

We had started walking, and were inside of the daycare now. The sound of little kids laughing and screaming hummed from the back room. The both of us took turns signing in, then headed down the long hallway. Lucy gripped onto my hand a little more tightly.

"Doctors are never fun." She scrunched up her nose.

"Never." I agreed. "But how have you been?"

"Oh, I've been fine." Violet said as she opened the door. All of the little kids suddenly broke into a silence then looked up at us. The teacher, Ms. Anderson, was wiping a table down from snack time.

"Aveline! Seth!" She called. "Your mommas are here."

Aveline and Seth were by the dress up. She was wearing a pink princess dress, and Seth was wearing an astronaut helmet. When Aveline saw me, she dropped the wand that she was holding and ran over. She instantly wrapped her arms around my legs and started jumping up and down excitedly. I smiled and knelt down to her level.

"How was your day?"

"Mommy I drew more pictures and I played dress up AND FOR SNACKS WE HAD MY FAVORITE JUICE!"

"Shh, calm down, Ava." I tucked her hair behind her ear and stood up. "Let's go get your backpack so we can get home. We have to get ready to decorate the Christmas tree, remember?"

Still hyped up, she ran to her cubby and yanked her backpack down. Seth joined her, looking equally as excited. I looked over at Violet. "Where's Maddox?"

"It's her weekend with Dylan. He came and got her this morning." Her voice sounded sad.

Dylan and Violet were dating when we first met them. Seth isn't his son, but he treated him like he was, and he cared for Violet like she was his reason for existence. They were cute together, and had what I believed was this special kind of love - the kind that you only find every once in a while.

They had their daughter, Maddox, and, eventually, were married. As much as it pains me to say, their story didn't end up quite like mine. Within two years of being together, they called it off. It was mutual. They lost feelings for each other and were always fighting; it wasn't worth it for them anymore.

Violet keeps both of the kids with her. She has two jobs. One full time day job as a waitress at Hooters, and another weekend job at an art museum. Dylan pays child support, but even that isn't enough. Violet didn't go to school; she expected them to stay together and for him to support their family like Edward and I. Now she struggles to pay the bills and has to juggle two different jobs with two kids under the age of five.

I try to help her out the best that I can, but she typically rejects my offers. She'd never admit it, but I think she wants to prove to Dylan that she _can_ do it all by herself.

"You'll see her Monday." I offered hopefully just as Aveline ran into me again.

"I know." She smiled. "Now I get to spend some time with my little man!" Violet said excitedly, and brought Seth into her arms. He grinned as she spun him around, then put him back down. "I'll see you, Bella."

I waved, then headed back to the car with my two little girls. Like always, Aveline requested "I Knew You Were Trouble" on the way home. I turned it on for her, and thought of all the preparations that would have to go into Christmas this year. On Black Friday, I went out and bought most the presents. There were only a few things left, most of which were for Edward.

Decorating was an entirely different story. I was terrified that someone would run into the tree, break a glass ornament, and slice their foot open. Or maybe the dog would pee on the gifts Christmas morning. I sighed at my brain, which tends to go to worst case scenario on a daily basis.

The girls were both anxious to get out of the car when we pulled into the garage. Aveline had already unbuckled herself from the car seat, and Lucy was struggling to get hers undone.

"Come on, Lucy!" Aveline called, her voice echoing through the empty garage.

I helped Lucy, then put her on the ground. She ran towards her sister with a big smile on her face. They raced towards the elevator and pressed the button. The doors opened, and our neighbor, Jacob, hurried out. We stepped in and rode up to our floor.

The first thing we did when we got in was change in the Christmas shirts we got a few weeks back, and put the Disney Christmas CD on the stereo system. Lucy followed me into the kitchen, where I took out the cookies from the fridge and heated the oven. She started shaking from side to side, holding her arms by her side. Her curls bounced as she danced to "Jingle Bell Rock."

Aveline helped me get the cookies ready while Lucy chased the dog around the house trying to put the reindeer ears we got from PetSmart on her head. Blitzen obviously wasn't too happy about that. She hid underneath the coach. I laughed at the ordeal from the kitchen, where I had been watching the whole time.

"Mommy, these need to go in the oven now." Aveline instructed.

"Alright, Chef Ava." I said, then picked up the tray of cookies and slid them into the oven. Aveline instantly plopped herself in front of the oven and turned the light on so she could watch them rise.

While the two of them were occupied, I went into my bedroom and pulled the box of Christmas stuff from the closet, dragging them into living room. I started sorting through everything, and even began putting some of our Santa's on counters and hanging wreaths on the doors.

When I got to the tree, I furrowed my brow. Edward wasn't here yet; I really wanted him to be here to help with that. It's been a family tradition for the past few years. We put up the tree together, then watch a family movie. Once the kiddos are asleep, I pull out the fancy Christmas wine, and Edward and I snuggle next to the twinkling lights.

In the meantime, the girls and I found other things to do. I told them to clean up both their room and playroom, and I brought out some colored pencils and markers for them to draw Christmas pictures that we could put on the fridge. While they drew, I let them have one cookie each, along with a big glass of milk.

I munched on one myself, and leaned against the counter while I waited for Edward to get home. Cooking and drawing and decorating had taken longer I though it would have. He would be here any minute now.

I shook my obnoxiously long hair out and flipped it over, pulling it into a bun on the top of my head. I could care less about how it looked. I just wanted it out of my face.

Right as I pulled the last strand of hair through the ponytail, there was a rattling at the door. The dog barked from under the couch, still refusing to come forward. I laughed, and excitedly went to greet my wonderful husband.

Even in blue scrubs, he was perfect to me. Edward closed the door behind him and dropped his wallet onto the floor. I smiled and stood on my tiptoes to wrap my arms around his neck.

"Hi, love." He said lovingly.

"Hi, baby." I said and kissed him. My arms dropped to my side, and I smiled at him again. He smiled back, and put his hand to my waist, walking behind me as I led him to the kitchen.

They hardly even noticed he was standing there. But when they did, the both them yelled "daddy!" and ran over. Aveline immediately went on and on about her day, like she always does when Edward gets home. He listened to her go on an endless tangent before I finally intervened.

"Why don't you let daddy get changed so we can start on the tree?" I said, and she nodded. "Go put that up on the refrigerator, okay?"

She had no problem doing what I said. The two of them were so excited to put up the tree, that they cleaned up the markers without me having to ask them. I felt like a proud mother. Maybe I am doing something right after all.

I couldn't blame them, though. I was secretly tingling with excitement. Christmas is the best part of the year; putting up the tree is like the icing on the cake. It makes everything feel official.

Luckily, Edward was changed and ready to go within ten minutes.

We turned the music back on, and started on the tree.

Edward put it together and plugged the lights in. I sat on the floor, and handed the girls ornaments with the hook already on them. Aveline carefully examined the tree, trying to find the perfect place to put the ornaments on. Lucy, on the other hand, placed an ornament on the tree and came back over to me. She said, "more please" and waited for me to hand her another.

I put on a few ornaments myself. The valuable ones were towards the top, where they were less likely to be shattered by crazy children. With the smell of gingerbread cookies and the hum of Christmas music playing, I felt like the picture-perfect family.

The star was by far my favorite part. I took out my camera and took a picture as Edward scooped our Lucy and Ava into his arms, and helped them reach the top. The both of them placed the star on the top of our Christmas tree, then slowly brought them back down.

And there it stood in all its glory: our family tree.

Edward gave me a quick peck on the lips. Another Christmas, another year of happiness.

"Mommy can we watch _Elf_?" Aveline asked me. That's one of her favorite movies. She'll watch it even when it's not Christmas time.

"If your sister is okay with watching it."

"Lucy, wanna watch _Elf_? It's funny 'cause he eats candy for breakfast!"

"Candy!" Lucy squealed.

I looked over at Edward. "_Elf _it is."

The girls cheered and brought their blankets in from their bedrooms. They sat in the middle of us, Aveline next to me, and Lucy by Edward. Ava rested her head on my leg, and I ran my hands through her hair while she watched the movie.

For once, the house was quiet. It was almost too good to be true.

But, of course, halfway through the movie, the dog started pawing at the door. Edward and I both looked at each other. I mouthed that I would get her, and once I managed to get Aveline, who was halfway asleep, off of me, I shrugged into my jacket, and headed out with the dog.

This has to be the only con of living in an apartment. Having to take a dog out to pee every few hours can get tedious. I took out to the back of the apartment. After years of doing this, she knew the drill. She did her business, then started for the door before I could even bring her back in. In the elevator, I ran into Jacob again. This time, a tall, gangly boy, with dark curly hair was walking behind him.

"Hey." I waved.

"Hey." He said, then turned to the boy standing next to him. "This my neighbor, Bella."

The boy smiled. "Hi!" He said. His voice was much more cheerful than I had imagined it would be.

"My cousin, Seth." Jacob introduced. "He's visiting my all the way from Australia."

"Oh!" I exclaimed, suddenly remembering our run in at the airport years ago. "The one you visited…"

Seth nodded. "That's me!"

The kid looked fifteen, maybe sixteen. Other than the extreme height, and similar tan skin, there wasn't much of a resemblance between the two of them. Nonetheless, I made awkward small talk with them until Blitzen and I finally made it back to our apartment.

The dog trotted off to her dog bed, where she lay and almost instantly fell back asleep. Lucy was passed out on the couch; Aveline was fighting heavy eyelids.

I sat back down next to her and finished the movie. As soon as it was over, she curled into my lap and fell asleep. I laughed soundlessly, and kissed her forehead. What a stubborn little girl.

We helped both of them into their pajamas, and put them right into bed, where they drifted off sleep without a problem. Edward closed the door softly behind him, and we crept back into the living room.

"Shall you get the wine or shall I?" Edward asked as he picked up my hand and kissed it.

I did a little spin under his arm and rested against his chest. "Hmm." I thought aloud. My eyes drifted around the room, and I saw the dog sitting by the door again. My face fell, and the romance died.

"What?" Edward asked, following my gaze. "Ah." He said, when he saw the dog. "I'll get it this time if you get the wine?"

"Sure." I said. He kissed me, his fingers lingering on my hips, before he hurried off to take the dog out.

I wandered off into our bedroom and changed into a pair of boxer shorts, a long sleeved shirt, and a pair of black knee-high socks. I yanked a brush through my hair, then went into the kitchen and poured two glasses of wine in fancy Christmas glasses.

Once I set the wine on the coffee table, I wrapped a blanket around myself and waited for Edward to get back. Cuddling time is exactly what I need, and it was exactly what I got, too.

Not even ten minutes later, Edward walked back in. "Damn dog didn't even go outside. She sat in front of the door and wouldn't go out." He sighed and unhooked her from the leash.

"Poor you had to walk all that way for nothing." I teased.

He rolled his eyes and sat next to me on the couch. Rather than snuggle under the blankets with me, he picked me up in the blanket, and put me on his lap. His hand rested on the bottom of my thighs, while I rested my head on his shoulder.

It felt nice to unravel the day like this - nestled in his arms, happy, and warm. The Christmas tree made is a thousand times better. It towered over us like a skyscraper, and brought feelings of warmth and innocence.

"I can't wait for Christmas." I whispered into his neck.

"Me either." His finger trailed up my arm. "I have just the perfect gift for you."

"Don't tell me _that_." I whined.

"Why not?" He seemed confused.

"Obviously what I give you can't compare." I rolled my eyes, more at myself than anything else. "It must be a Cullen thing to be an excellent shopper."

Edward chuckled. "Are you forgetting something, Mrs. _Cullen_?"

I hit him in the arm. "You know what I mean." I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled myself closer to him, sitting up straight so I could see him more clearly. His green eyes seemed to sparkle in the glow of the Christmas tree. "And if you make some cheesey remark like, 'but all I want for Christmas is you,' you're going to get slapped."

He laughed again. "I think that you know me too well."

"Isn't that why I married you?"

"I suppose." He grimaced teasingly.

Every other year, we would have made our way back to the bedroom, and fallen asleep there. But tonight, we stayed in the living room, with nothing but a thin, holey blanket, and each other for warmth. We talked, and kissed, and shared the entire bottle of fancy Christmas wine until I fell asleep in his arms.

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**Mushy chapter. It's only chapter two. This story is going to have much more excitement, and I'm super excited about that! You have to give me a few chapters before it starts. ;) **

**I didn't respond to reviews last chapter, but I plan on doing that tomorrow. (I have to study for AP English because I may or may not have spent my studying time writing this….) Anyway. I apparently have readers in Venezuela! THAT'S AWESOME. You guys absolutely rock.**

**Happy September. Hope Labor Day was awesome!**

**Xoxo,  
Halley. **


	3. White Envelope

**I AM SO SORRY. I should have updated earlier. I've been so busy lately that I just want to cry. I pushed some homework back just so I could write this. I wanted it to be longer, but I wanted to get it up by tonight. New chapter will be up very soon! If I finish my homework then I'll start on it…. Sorry, guys ):**

**Anyway. THANKS FOR ALL OF THE REVIEWS! You guys rock. I just got back from the Taylor Swift concert today, so this has been a busy weekend, but I'm happy that I got to update, at least….**

* * *

_BPOV_

"Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house… not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse," Edward read aloud as he held _The Night Before Christmas_ in his hands. Both Aveline and Lucy were leaning into him and gaping at the pictures. "The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, in hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there."

Christmas Eve is one of the most beautiful nights of the year. The excitement and the anticipation - it's possibly the most magical part about Christmas.

Our plan for tomorrow is to open gifts, then at around eleven drive down to Forks. We're spending Christmas dinner with our parents, and staying the night as well. It'll be nice to see my dad again; it's been ages since we've last visited.

Edward glanced over at me as he turned the page.

"The children were nestled all snug in their beds, while visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads." I read. The girls' eyes popped in awe at the sugar plum fairies flying around on the page. I smiled. Maybe next year we could take them to see The Nutcracker.

Reading this book on Christmas Eve has become a tradition of ours. It sets the final mood for the big day. Edward and I usually go back and forth reading it with the girls nestled between us. I smiled knowing that Christmas Day was so close.

Aveline called out the names of the reindeer as Edward said them aloud. She's been running around the house for the past few days pretending to be Santa. I love the energy level of kids; I wish I still had that.

The both of them were enthralled from beginning to end. I found that funny - all from a little story. I closed the book at looked at Aveline and Lucy. "Alright, guess what time it is?"

"Bed!" Aveline squealed. For once, she was happy about this.

Edward carried both of the girls to their bedrooms. He plopped each of them on their bed, and, giggling, they scrambled underneath their blankets with a grin spreading from ear to ear.

"Now remember," I said as I kissed Aveline on the forehead. "Santa won't come unless you're _asleep_."

"I'm gonna pretend." Aveline grinned impishly.

I shook my head. "Santa will know."

She frowned. "How mommy?"

"Because Santa is magical." Edward said with a wink in my direction.

I rolled my eyes as I walked towards Lucy and kissed her on the forehead as well. She giggled and reached out to touch my face. I smiled and grabbed her hand. After giving it a squeeze, I walked to the door with Edward.

We both said goodnight one last time, then cut the lights, and closed the door behind us. I listened for a moment to see if Lucy had scrambled out of her bed and tried to follow us into our bedroom, like she frequently does, but there was nothing but the sound of deep breathing.

Once we were back in our room, I pulled the box of presents from the top shelf in our closet. It was hidden behind old blankets and one of Esme's old sewing machines that she had passed down to me.

Edward came up from behind and helped me bring down the heavy box. He grabbed it from me and plopped it down on the bed.

I sighed and put my hands on my hips. "God damn, I'm out of shape." I teased myself.

"Don't say things like that about yourself, love." Edward hummed as he took all of the wrapped gifts from the box. "You're beautiful."

I ignored his compliment and peaked down into the box. "Is that really all we have?"

He shook his head and chuckled. "There's another two boxes of things that need to be wrapped."

My eyes nearly popped out of my head when I turned and saw the mountain of little girl toys sitting in the closet. How had we forgotten to wrap these? I thought I had been productive by getting the first box done two days ago. I looked over at the clock and sighed heavily. It was already 8:30, and I had a feeling this would be going on for quite a while.

I decided to sneak into the kitchen to get some food to satisfy us for the night. I took Santa's plate of cookies from the counter along with more fancy wine before head back. Edward was wrapping a princess Barbie doll for Aveline when I walked in.

He smiled as took a seat next to him. I picked up a cookie and bit into it. I'm normally not a fan of sugar cookies, but these were delicious. I closed my eyes and leaned my head against the bed pole in bliss.

Edward nudged my thigh. I looked up, only to find him holding a pair of scissors in his hand. "Let's get to wrapping."

I made a face. "Oh, _alright_."

We came up with a system. I cut the paper while he wrapped it. (As much as I love Christmas, my gift wrapping skills are that of a two year old. In fact, I'm almost positive that Lucy could wrap better than me.)

I tried to wrap the paper as evenly as possible. I squinted one eye and let the scissors glide across the smooth and shiny red paper. Only a few times did the paper rip, and I somehow managed to not slice my finger open.

It was nearing 10:30 when we were halfway done with the last box. I groaned when I realized we had more gifts to go; even louder when I ran out of wrapping paper. Edward glanced over at me with sleepy eyes and chuckled.

"Stop laughing. This is a serious matter!" I threw the thin piece of cardboard at his head.

Edward, who had just finished wrapping, threw the gift in his hand onto the bed, and started towards me. I covered my hand over my mouth to stop myself from squealing. He pulled me into his arms and put a sticky red ribbon on my head. He pulled back to look at me, grinned, and planted a quick kiss on my lips.

I furrowed my eyebrows at him. "Why is this on my head?"

"Because," he laughed, "it's cute."

I leaned forward and grabbed another bow. This one was green. I put it on his head and smiled. "There. That's better."

Edward shook his head. As he did, the bow fell to the floor. Before I could pick it back up, he was holding my wrists in his hand. I stuck my tongue out at him. Edward grinned and leaned into me. He kissed me while he did this, and slowly moved down on the floor, pinning my hands on either side of me while he hovered atop of me.

His lips were hungry and passionate. I was overwhelmed by the sudden intensity that he gave off. As much as I wanted to spend the night naked in his arms, there were other responsibilities to take care of. When we broke apart to breath, I wiggled my hand out of his grasp and put a finger to his lips and glanced over at the unwrapped presents.

He made a puppy dog face. "We've been wrapping presents for three hours now. Don't you think we deserve a little break?" His voice was suggestive.

"Presents first." I said and pushed on his chest.

"Yes ma'am." Edward said and pushed himself off of me. We both stood up and headed back for the presents. I noticed that Edward was working more efficiently now that he had a motive to get done faster. I rolled my eyes. _Men._

Much to my husband's impatience, I continued to take my time cutting the paper. I wanted to make sure that the pieces were evenly cut. If I couldn't wrap the gifts myself, I wanted to contribute as much as possible.

By the time we were done, it was nearing midnight, which meant that it was time to put the presents under the tree, then head off to bed. The girls were going to come into our room the moment they woke up - which I'm praying isn't before six in the morning.

I crept down the hallway and put my ear to the door. When I knew the coat was clear, I motioned for Edward to come out with the basket of gifts. I tiptoed behind him, carrying a heap of presents myself.

They were beautifully wrapped in an arrangement of red and green plaid, reindeer, and Santa Claus wrapping paper. I smiled as we reached the tree, and knelt in front of the twinkling lights to place the presents around it.

Most were for the girls. There were a few for me, and, the ones that were wrapped terribly, for Edward. I made sure that they were evenly distributed underneath the pine needles while Edward stuffed the stockings that hung underneath the television.

And with that, it was done.

The Christmas preparations were complete.

I stood up and looked at the tree in awe. It twinkled in the dark room like a star in the dead of night - the gifts like a rainbow of shapes and colors and sizes.

I felt a pair of arms wrap around my waist. I didn't even have to turn to know it was Edward. He held me in his embrace and slowly swayed from side to side. I rested my head against his chest and closed my eyes.

"Love you." I whispered.

"As I love you." He whispered back.

We stood in silence for a moment, admiring the beauty of not only the tree, but of Christmas itself.

"You know," I began, "we _are_ done wrapping presents now…"

I could just see him smiling. "I was waiting for you to say that." He said, then twisted out of the embrace, and grabbed my hand, leading me to the bedroom.

* * *

I was dreaming that I was back in high school when I heard the familiar pounding of little elephant feet. I hardly had time to open my eyes before I felt the _oomph _my two girls diving into our bed.

"Mommy!" Aveline screeched at the top of her lungs.

I tried my best to suppress a groan when I glanced over at the clock. 6:00 in the morning, and the sun hadn't even peeked over the Seattle sky. Nonetheless, I pulled the warm blankets closer to my bare chest and smiled.

"Yeah baby?" My voice was thick with sleep. Edward and I hadn't made it to bed until much later last night. _Much later._

She pulled on my hand, trying to drag me out of bed. "Santa came, mommy!"

I rubbed my eyes and sat up. "Did he?"

Lucy nodded her head excitedly. Her hair was wild, sticking out in every direction. I tried to smooth it down while I gave Aveline instructions. "Go get your stockings and sit on the couch. Mommy and daddy will be there in a minute."

The both of them scrambled off of the couch and ran for the living room, closing the door behind them. The dog was running around the apartment and yipping at the gifts under the tree. I sighed. We no longer decide when it's time to wake up; they do.

I lay back down on the bed and turned toward Edward. Because my feet were cold, and because he absolutely hates when I do this, I ran my icy cold feet up and down his warm legs.

Edward's back arched and he groaned unhappily. Laying my head atop of his back with my hands folded neatly underneath my chin, I spoke clearly, "time to wake up, sleepy head. It's Christmas morning. Time to put on some clothes."

He looked at me with hazy green eyes and grinned lazily. "But this is so much better…"

I hit him on the back and sat up. My hair was long enough to cover my back as I stood up and stretched my arms. I leaned down and pulled on my plaid Christmas sweatpants along with a long sleeved black t-shirt of Edward's. Groaning, Edward pulled himself out of bed and put on a pair of pajamas. He kissed me before we headed into the living room to start our Christmas day.

Edward flipped pancakes while I took pictures of the girls with their stockings. Rosalie had already posted pictures to Facebook. I laughed when I saw that they were posted at nearly three in the morning. Her wakeup call had clearly not been as welcoming as mine had been.

Lucy kept running over to the tree and picking up presents, trying to open them. But I insisted that we waited until eating breakfast before we opened everything. Needless to say, they inhaled their pancakes, and, for once, didn't even ask for seconds. Their excitement level was through the roof.

An hour after waking up, it was time to open presents.

I took pictures as they opened their presents. They had a lot of gifts, but they were smaller. Ten dollar Barbie doll, Disney Princess dresses - things like that. I don't think that they minded. They seemed to like ripping the paper off of the boxes. Especially Lucy.

The moment Edward handed her a present, she was digging her fingers into the thin paper and throwing it all over. I hardly had time to process what was happening before she was done. And everything she opened it - regardless of what it was, and if she even _knew _what it was - she would run up to me screaming in pure joy.

Aveline was precise in opening her gifts. Once she had peeled the paper back, her jaw would drop, and she would too start screaming.

Lucy was particularly happy when she saw that Santa had brought her a dress like Rapunzel's from _Tangled_. So happy, in fact, that she ran up to Edward, and begged him to help her put it on. Aveline wanted to join by wearing her Ariel dress. We took a five minute intermission to put Disney princess dresses on.

Oddly enough, they seemed to be their favorite gifts.

I feel like Edward was happy with his gifts. I was happy with mine. I had done my best to run out to the mall while the girls were out of the way and get as much as possible. There were only about five or six under the tree for us both, but that's okay. It's worth it for our babies.

A bittersweet feeling came over me when Aveline opened the last gift. Christmas is halfway over now - opening gifts is always one of the best parts.

"More?" Lucy asked, looking up at me with hopeful eyes.

"No, there's no more, baby." I said and opened my arms out to her. She walked over to me; I gave her a hug and kissed her on the cheek. "Let's put all your toys away. We're going to see grandpa today."

This excited Aveline. Aveline being overjoyed started a chain reaction, and Lucy was jumping up and down with her sister. "Yay!" Aveline cried.

"We can't leave until your toys are cleaned up and you're in your pretty dresses." I reminded her. Aveline quickly grabbed Lucy's hand and, with a handful of gifts in her arm, ran into the playroom.

I looked over at Edward and shrugged my shoulders happily. He grinned. "Oh!" He suddenly said, as though remembering something. "I have something else for you."

"Something else?" I raised my eyebrow in question, then turned to look at my pile of gifts. He had already gone a little crazy. More crazy than our wallet can afford for, I'm sure. A bottle of perfume, a purse, a leather journal… much more than my thirty dollar set of Axe.

He wandered over the t.v. and slid a small white envelope into his hand. He handed it to me, and smiled. "Go ahead." He nodded his head. "Open it. I'll be in the shower." Edward paused as he started out of the room. "You can join me… if you please."

I was a little hesitant. A white envelope - it was surely more than just that. There was more to it. My mind instantly jumped to the conclusion of tickets. Plane tickets. _Australia_.

My fingers were attacking the paper before I could even think. The card was bright red with faint sparkles on it. In white cursive lettering it read _Christmas time with you… _I quickly opened the card. There was a letter scrawled in his perfect handwriting.

_My love,  
__I cannot fathom the joy I feel thinking about spending yet another holiday with my beautiful wife. Though I should not be telling you this just for the occasion, I felt that it was appropriate for such a happy day. I love you. You don't need to stand underneath a mistletoe to know that - I always have and always will.__  
_

_You are a wonderful mother, person, and moreover, wife. I hope that you don't need this card, or even me saying this, to know that. I love you more than any cheesy Christmas song could put into words; because you, my love, are mine._

_Merry Christmas.  
__Edward__  
_

I dropped the card to my lap and sat in silence. I smiled at his words, and suddenly wondered how I got to be so lucky. But there was another side of that couldn't help but feel a twinge of disappointment.

I guess that I had thought that maybe - just maybe - he _had_ gotten the tickets, and we would be spending time with our friends in Australia. I shook my head and how pretentious I was being. Complaining about something on Christmas.

I put the card back into the little white envelope and sighed. "Girls," I called aloud, pushing the disappoint away from my voice. "Let's get in the shower."

* * *

**Update coming soon. Promise! You guys are all fantastic. I'm going to have a five second rant below here, which you don't have to read. Thanks for reading! Review? **

**Xoxo,  
Halley**

* * *

_**Rant to an anon:  
**_**To the anon telling me the characters are stupid and giving me crap about it … **_**that's the point**_**. I don't support teen pregnancy; planning on having a baby in high school is dumb! I knew that then, and I know that now. The point I'm trying to get across is that you should go for what you want, whether everyone else thinks it's ridiculous or not. They were teenagers when they made this decision. **_**Of course **_**they didn't think everything through, but they still made it. Another point I'm trying to get across.**


	4. Friction

**Looking at colleges. Feeling sad. I decided I'd write to take my mind off of that chaotic mess. (:**

**Thank you for the overwhelming reviews last chapter! That was so nice of all of you. I've been super busy all week, but I've finally found a little bit of time to start on this chapter. It's a continuation of the last one… the good parts are coming soon. Bear with me!**

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_BPOV_

"Lucy, honey, you can't wear your princess dress to Grandpa's house." I repeated for the fifth time. We were just about to head out the door, when we realized that she hadn't changed yet.

She shook her head.

I folded my arms over my chest and shook my head at my adamant child's decision. "I've asked you nicely. Please take off the princess dress."

Lucy shook her head again. Just as I was about to take it off of her myself, Edward ran past, brushing his hand across the small of my back. "Just let her wear it. If we're gonna beat this snowstorm, then we have to leave now."

Then, of course, Aveline wanted to wear _her _dress, too. I knew if I let one and not the other, we'd be listening to screaming for three hours straight; without hesitation, I sent her to her room to put it on.

"There goes our family portrait." I pouted.

"I don't know," he paused to pick up an overnight bag. "I think it's going to be one of those things we laugh at later on."

"Stop being so philosophical," I teased as I hit him in the shoulder. The girls suddenly came running from the back room, both in sparkling princess dresses and tiaras. They were giddy from dressing up; faces glowing from the Christmas spirit.

Edward grinned. "Are my two princesses ready to go?"

"What about mommy?" Aveline asked as she hung onto Edward's arm. Lucy joined her, and both of them were holding his hand now.

I smiled and slung the overnight bags around my shoulder.

"Mommy's a princess too."

"But she isn't wearing a crown."

"She doesn't have to."

He said this so simply that it brought a blush to my cheeks.

Getting everyone, and everything, in the car is always the hardest part for us. The girls always want to run around the parking garage screaming and laughing because it takes so long for us to make sure everything is packed up.

A diaper bag, overnight stuff for both of the girls, medicine for Lucy, and overnight clothes for Edward and I as well. Then, of course, any blankets, teddy bears, toys… those kind of things. Because God forbid we forget to bring a copy of The Wiggles that we've all seen thirty times.

Right as Edward closed the trunk, I called for the girls to get in their car seats.

"Mommy." Aveline cried, running over to me.

"Come on, sweetie. We have to hurry. There's a big storm coming in."

"_Mommy_!"

I sighed. "Yes?"

"I gotsa go potty…" She was jumping up and down. Her green eyes were watering. Even just looking at her, you could tell that she was miserable. "I really gotsa go!"

Feeling slightly aggravated, I grabbed onto her hand. I yelled at Edward to get Lucy in the car, and rushed upstairs to take Aveline to the bathroom. I tried my best not to be mad at her. We've been stressing the importance of going to the 'big girl potty' for quite some time now, and it's nice to see that its been working.

Ten minutes later, and a very small handful of M&M's later, we were in the car and ready to go for Forks. Even on Christmas day, the traffic was backed up. I crossed my fingers that we would make it to Forks on time, though I was having second thoughts on that. With our luck, we'd be stuck eating animal crackers for Christmas dinner.

Aveline kept asking us to turn on "I Knew You Were Trouble," and I, continually, had to tell her to wait. Snow was already beginning to fall against the windshield, and Edward desperately needed to concentrate.

The light turned green, and Edward slowly hit the accelerator. Some moron behind us honked and swerved out of the lane to cut us off. The truck took such a sharp turn that his wheels were on their side for a moment, nearly slipping on the ice. "Fucking idiot!" Edward yelled in frustration, slamming his hand on the steering wheel to honk at the asshole.

"Mommy what does _that _word mean?" Aveline asked in awe from the backseat.

I quickly scanned through my iPod and started playing "I Knew You Were Trouble." She dropped the conversation and started singing in the backseat. I, on the other hand, turned to glare at my husband with an unhappy gleam.

"What?" He defended himself. "That guy was a - "

"I know. But we have children in the car… children under the age of five. It'd be really great if they didn't go around repeating those kinds of things at two and four years old."

"Come on, honey. Aveline is going to be alright, and Lucy - she can hardly even talk."

"Edward, please. Right now is not the time for this." I gritted between my teeth.

He didn't answer me - a smart move on his part. We sat silently for a minute or so, listening to Taylor Swift shame herself for loving a boy. "You remember to pack the medicine?"

I nodded my head, then looked over at him and smiled. "Yeah, of course I did."

And thus begun our three our journey of one Taylor Swift song on repeat, a snowstorm, and two little kids.

* * *

We were late. Always late. It's always us who ends up late, too.

We pulled into Edward's driveway nearly an hour after we were supposed to show up, and I felt absolutely terrible. The food was probably cold by now, or maybe they had already eaten it. Then we really would be stuck eating animal crackers…

"Bella, what are you doing?" Edward asked, unbuckling his seatbelt. "Let's go."

"Oh!" I gasped, snapping out of my internal rant. "Yeah, yeah. I'm coming."

In a short sleeved red dress, coat, gloves, hat, scarf, tights, and boots, I climbed out of the car and grabbed both of the girls while Edward got our bags. I held little Lucy in my arms while Aveline grabbed onto my hand. The three of us hurried to the front door to escape the bitter wind and falling snow.

"I wanna do it!" Aveline practically screeched. In her little princess dress, she hit the door three times and took a step back. Moments later, Esme opened the door. She looked very classy in a sleeveless black dress and a festive headband.

"You're here!" She cried and threw herself into everyone's arms. She took Lucy from me and twirled her into the house. We followed. Edward was suddenly behind me, one hand resting on my waist while he dropped the bags on the floor with another.

"I love your dresses." Esme said to both of our girls as she put Lucy on the floor. "Did Santa bring them?"

"Yes!" Lucy exclaimed with a huge smile on her face.

Carlisle waked into the room and greeted everyone as well, though not nearly as excitedly as his wife had. Esme set the girls up in the living room with a movie while Carlisle told us to help ourselves to wine and d' oeuvres.

I plopped a shrimp cocktail into my mouth and leaned against the counter. Edward stood next to me, taking a sip of wine, the same kind as his father. I gave him a quick kiss before I plopped another shrimp into my mouth.

"It's so nice to see you guys again." Esme said as she walked into the kitchen.

"I'm so sorry we're late." I apologized. "I'm surprised the food isn't ready."

She shook her head. "I started it a little late. You know, just in case." She winked. "I know how it can be with kids. Trust me, I had three. Two within a year of each other." Her eyes locked with Edward's. Him and Alice are very close in age.

"I guess you would know," I laughed. "But I'm perfectly fine with two."

Carlisle chuckled. Esme turned on the oven light to check on the ham.

"What?" Edward asked, sounding just as confused as I felt.

"Of course you are." Esme smiled all-knowingly.

I looked at Edward and sighed. Two is company, but three is a crowd. If we have another, then we have to have another. I think I'd go insane with four kids running around the house; I'm already going crazy with two!

Not in the mood to argue about how many children _I _wanted, we changed the subject.

"I really do miss coming up here."

"You kids should come up more." Carlisle said. "We definitely miss having you guys around."

"It's always so nice over the summer." I commented happily, thinking of the mild weather, and the beautiful trees. Forks in the summertime is a beautiful place. Warm sun on your skin, a soft breeze in the air, and the overall welcoming nostalgia of high school and my childhood bedroom. "Maybe we'll come and visit then."

Esme smiled. "I agree. But Dad has a conference," she hummed as she took the ham out of the oven. I started towards her to help, but she had already put the pan down. "A big conference this summer. A medical one."

Edward cocked his head. "Medical confidence?"

"A few doctors - Williams, you remember Williams, right? Him and I, a few others too, are doing it here in Forks." I don't see why your hospital wouldn't be." Carlisle took a sip of his wine. "I'd look into it. It'd be a wonderful experience; especially for someone as young as you."

"Oh, enough talk about work!" Esme intervened. "For Christ's Sake, it's Christmas. And besides, dinner is ready."

Everyone gravitated towards the dining room. I was envious as I walked in. After living here for so long, I had never realized how beautiful it was. Hardwood floors, and a grand dark oak table. Red walls, gold table cloth - even matching utensils! Edward and I were lucky to afford the cheap kitchen table set we have back at home.

We did Christmas Crackers, and put the cheesy paper crowns on our heads. Aveline's kept falling off of head, and Edward's was hot pink. I smirked at him. "Who's the princess now?"

He rolled his eyes. "Ha-ha. Very funny."

After dinner was dessert, which the girls were very excited for. Esme had made her famous Snicker's Pie, and they devoured it the moment it touched their plates. It was Christmas, so I let them eat to their hearts content.

Honestly, I was just happy to be here. I was happy about eating with Edward's family, and I was even more excited to spend time with my dad afterwards. He had a big dinner with his work which is why he's not here now, but I promised to spend the night there, and even some of tomorrow.

When I saw that it was nearing eight, I knew that if I wanted to spend time with my dad, it was time for us to get going. While the girls got their stuff together, I helped Esme clean up the kitchen. It felt just old times when I came over for dinner on Friday nights back in high school.

"Thanks again for dinner," I said as we walked towards the door.

"Ava, Lucy! Time to go!" Edward yelled down the hallway. He was already zipped up in his coat and ready to go; probably exhausted from talking about work with his dad, which I found ironic since they're both off today.

They both came running in with sad looks on their faces. "I wanna stay with Grandma!" Aveline cried. I had just put my arm into my coat, and was working on putting my gloves onto my hands.

"Oh, sweetie, that's not fair to Grandma." I slipped the black glove over my pale hand. "I think she needs some time to recover from your rendition of _The Little Mermaid_."

"I have no idea what you're talking about! In fact, I thought the _real _Ariel was in my living room today." Esme winked and turned towards me, her voice in a whisper. "There's no problem with them staying. You go on to your dad's house. We can keep the both of them for the night."

"Esme, you really don't have to do that…"

"You think I'm going to say no to my own grandkids?" She smiled, pulling me into a hug. "Consider it a second gift from us." She whispered softly into my ear.

"Merry Christmas." I mumbled in her embrace.

She patted me on the back. "Merry Christmas," she said, then walked over to Edward and hugged him as well.

"Merry Christmas, mom." Edward smiled.

"I'll see you two in the morning." Esme said as Edward and I started for the door. Our two little angles were standing by her, grabbing onto the hem of her black dress. The two of them hadn't looked this tired in a while. I could only hope that they would go straight to bed after we left.

We both waved and smiled. As soon as the door closed, I grabbed onto Edward arm and hurried for the car. It was so goddamn cold this late at night; I wasn't sure how much longer I could take it for.

Once in the car, we buckled up, and turned the heat up as high as it would go. I blew warm air into my shaking hands in an attempt to warm them up. "Why is your driveway s-s-s-so damn l-l-l-long?"

He chuckled and grabbed my hands, trying to warm them with the friction of his own hands. "Sorry babe." Edward whispered, though the laughter was obvious in his voice.

I wanted to hit him, but my hands were numb. So, rather, I shook my head. "Just d-d-rive." It's hard to sound intimidating when your teeth are chattering.

The drive through town was nice. I looked out the window, my breath fogging up the glass, watching as my childhood memories rushed passed me. The Christmas lights seemed to glisten as bright as the stars in the open sky - it was nice to see the stars. They don't come out much in the city.

I pressed my hand to the window and flinched at the cold touch. I turned to look at Edward, who seemed to be lost in his own kind of trance.

We continued through our town - so small that we hardly had any traffic lights - and down the familiar streets that we used to call our home. I felt small butterflies dance through my stomach as we pulled up my driveway. I don't even remember the last time I spent a night in my old bedroom.

By now, my shivering has ceased, and instead, I was anticipating the feel of my home after being away from so, so long.

Edward and I grabbed our bag and walked towards the door. Taped on the wood was a little note. I ripped it off and used my phone as a light to read it: _Bella. I'm not sure how long this dinner will last for. You're still more than welcome to stay; I'll be back by the morning. Merry Christmas, Dad._

I frowned. I had been looking forward to hanging out with my dad tonight. Edward read the note and hung his arm over my shoulder. I leaned into him and closed my eyes. I have to admit, that was a bit of a downer. Christmas is no fun without seeing all of the people you love.

"Oh well," I said, and with a sigh, grabbed the key from under the mat, and slid it into the lock. "We might as well." I pushed the door open and walked into the darkness.

Edward and I went straight upstairs. Even in the dark, the both of us know where to go.

I walked into my bedroom and was immediately overwhelmed by the smell of perfume that reminded me of waiting by my locker for Edward in the tenth grade. My bed, dresser, walls, pictures - everything was exactly as I had left it. I dropped my bag on the ground and walked towards my bed. I took a seat hesitantly, as though it may snap beneath me.

"Can you say 'high school?'" I joked in a small voice.

He took a seat beside me. "A lot can happen in four years."

I ran my hands through my hair. It was sticky from all of the hairspray. I shook it out and untangled it with my long fingers, being careful not to get my wedding ring stuck in the knots. "Mhm." I hummed. My voice sang an octave higher than it should have.

We were alone in my house. No dogs barking, neighbors; not even a car zoomed passed the empty street. It was just the two of us. I nuzzled my face into his neck, and moved my body against his. No sex tonight. Just us.

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**Still a short chapter. Oh well. It helped distract me! Thank you for reading! Review? **

**Xoxo,  
Halley.**


	5. 15

**I'M SO HAPPY RIGHT NOW BECAUSE I RAN A 20:40 5K YESTERDAY. But now I'm sore. It was definitely worth it. Anyway, this is going to be when the story begins to pick up! (I'm thinking.) Thanks for all of the wonderful reviews last chapter. You all rock!**

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_BPOV_

I walked into the gym wearing my new Asics I had just gotten for Christmas and headed for the treadmill. Since I've been avidly working out, I've dropped a few pounds. My goal is to lose about fifteen by the summer, and be at the weight I was _before _having kids.

Today I was alone. Rosalie is back in Chicago (she has been for a while now), and Alice is frantically working (though she doesn't need to work out; she has blessed with a ridiculously high metabolism and a peppy personality to match). Nonetheless, I walked over to my treadmill and after a few minutes of stretching, hopped on.

Ordinarily, I wouldn't have worked out today. It's not my normal exercise day. But it's New Years Eve, and I want to look at least somewhat decent tonight. We're going down to Alice's house to celebrate.

Earlier today, I packed a bag for Aveline and Lucy. Charlie has no plans for the new year, so he offered to take care of them for the night. Edward is driving the both of them down there while I work out. It already feels odd not having them here. I've kicked off the new year with at least one of my little girls for the past four years now. It's always cute giving them noise makers and putting hats on their head. But Alice is having an "adult party" this year. At first I wasn't going to go, and was happy with that, but when word got around to my dad, he was stuck on keeping them for me.

So, here I am. Working out at the gym, then going home to my husband… and only my husband. No kids running around the house. Perhaps I feel bittersweet about that. I love them more than anything in the world. I then have to get ready for an "adult party," which worried me. I don't go to many parties, let alone ones with that kind of connotation. I will _not _be getting myself wasted tonight.

I put all of my anxiety about tonight into my run. I have to admit that it helped a lot. I ended up running one mile more than I had planned for. For once, I stepped off of the treadmill on a happy note, and drove home with a smile on my face rather than pure exhaustion. Hurray for endorphins!

When I walked inside, Edward was sitting on the couch watching _How I Met Your Mother_. He was on his phone, staring at that screen, rather than the sitcom blaring back at him. I closed the door softly. I quietly took my shoes off and rested them by the door before walking up behind Edward.

"Hey." I said as I leaned over the edge of the couch.

"Oh, hey." He said, and looked up me with a smile on his thin lips.

I glanced up at the t.v. for a moment. It was the Superbowl episode of the show. I laughed, mostly to myself. "This is one of my favorite episodes."

"Well," Edward began, picking up the remote, "I'll pause it and we can watch it together once you've showered."

I smiled. "Alright."

I left my hair down, and went for a smoky eye look. After wiggling into my dark wash skinny jeans and pulling a black, sparkly tank top over my head, I was good to go. We were only chilling at Alice's, so I didn't feel the need to put on anything too drastic.

Edward dressed in a pair of jeans and a button down. He smelt like cologne when he walked over and wrapped his arms around my waist. I leaned my head back and closed my eyes as he me rocked back and forth.

"I love you…" He said.

"I know." I teased, then laughed. "I love you too."

"Are you almost ready to go?" He asked as he left a trail of kissed along my neck, his eyes darting to the clock that was already blinking eight. "We're going to be late if we don't leave soon."

"We're going to be even later if you don't stop kissing my neck like that…" I commented. In his defense, I wasn't going to stop him. Edward kissing my neck is definitely a weakness.

Edward paused for a moment. The corners of his lips suddenly upturned into a smirk and he spoke softly. "I don't see anything wrong with being a little late. Five minutes wouldn't kill anyone…"

"Or ten…"

"Fifteen?"

In one quick motion, he had be turned around so my back was pressed against the bathroom counter. I quickly jumped onto it and wrapped my legs around his waist. His hands rested on the small of my back. "Fifteen." He agreed with anticipation in his eyes. "Fifteen minutes…"

Fifteen minutes later, we were on our way to Alice's apartment. My lipstick was a little smudged; hair messy; brown eyes ecstatic. I looked out the window, watching as we zoomed past the city's Christmas lights while "Sweater Weather" hummed throughout the car.

Edward drove with one hand, and the other he rested on the cup holder to hold mine. He occasionally brought it to his lips to kiss my pale skin. I couldn't help but note the excessively good mood he was in.

The streets were jam packed. I was a little nervous about driving so late on New Year's Eve, but I had faith in Edward's. We reached Alice's apartment with no problem, which I was more than grateful for. Edward parked the car, then ran over to my side of the car to open my car and help me out.

I stumbled a little in the heels as I stepped out. Edward held my hand and led me up to her room. I could hear the music from halfway down the hall. Trying to be open minded about the get together, I let out a deep breath. _It's New Years Eve. Try to have a good time._

Really, there was no excuse for me to not have a good time. The kids are with Charlie for the night in Forks until tomorrow afternoon. This is a once in a life time thing for the both of us. Tonight we can act our age - wild and crazy twenty-two year olds.

Edward gave my hand a small squeeze as though sensing my contemplation. I glanced over and smiled. _Have a good time. _I repeated in my head, because internal pep talks are always the best. _It's going to be fun._

We had just reached Alice's room when Edward grabbed my arm to stop me. Before I could ask him what was wrong, he held both of my hands in his and let out an excited breath. "I as going to wait and tell you at midnight, but I can't wait anymore," the words rushed out of his mouth like the wind.

I raised my eyebrow in question. "What is going on…"

His hands moved up to my arms. "I got them. The tickets. We're going to Australia."

"H-h-how?" I struggled to get the words out of my mouth. "But you said that - and - " Suddenly, it didn't even matter _how _he got the tickets, and _why _we were able to afford them. It mattered that we were going. I put my hand to my mouth to suppress an excited squeal.

"Is that a good reaction?" Edward asked frantically, his eyes searching for an answer in mine.

"Yes!" I finally exclaimed and jumped into his arms. I kicked my legs into the air so he was holding me up and wrapped my arms around his neck, still holding onto my black clutch. "Yes, yes, yes, _yes_!"

Edward put my back down on my feet, and I stood there with a giddy look on my face. "You're not messing with me, right?" I had to make sure.

"Of course not!" He was smiling too now. "I just wanted to surprise you… and Alice may or may not have found out already, so I needed you to hear it from me."

I shook my head. "She wouldn't have said anything," I looked at the door. I had never been more excited to go to one of Alice's get-togethers. I wanted to scream it to the world. "Come on, let's go tell everyone!"

The door was unlocked, so we stepped right in. Alice had gone overboard with the decorations. The Christmas tree was still up, but even more lights danced around her living room. Music was blasting, and the beer and food on the counter was already giving me a headache.

Alice, Jasper, Violet, and a few other people I didn't know were sitting on the couch watching the Rockin' New Years Eve special. When Alice saw us, she jumped up from her spot next to Jasper and ran over to me. "Australia!" She screamed. "Australia!"

Edward and I shot each other a look before I turned to Alice. "I know!" I squealed. "I can't wait!"

"Me either. Oh my god. We have to celebrate! Let's get you some beer!"

Though I've never been too fond of getting wasted on New Years Eve, I will say that I had a few beers that night. Not enough to get myself drunk, but enough to get in the spirit. Nothing like Alice, though, who I'm convinced already had three before we came.

I popped the cap off of a beer and took a sip. Alice handed one to Edward, and we all took seats on the couch. We were introduced to everyone else at the party. There was Andrew and Jordan, who were best friends; Emily Anderson, who dressed like a punk, but I later found out was possibly the sweetest girl I had ever met; and Taylor and Paul, who have been dating for years now.

It was nice getting to know new people. I don't get out of the house much these days with the kids being so young. When they're older, I'll be able to interact with the rest of the world, but for now, my life revolves around them. I'm more than okay with that. In fact, I love it. I have the best job in the world; that job is being with my little girls.

Despite all of the good that had happened tonight - finding out about Australia and hanging out with a group of amazing people - I felt a twinge of sadness. I wouldn't be kissing them goodnight tonight.

So while Emily was telling a story about how getting her new car was destiny, I quietly slipped into the bathroom and pulled out my phone to make a call. The phone rang a few times before my dad picked up.

"Hey, Bells." He answered.

"How are they doing?" I asked immediately. "I just wanted to make sure that they're doing alright."

My dad laughed. "They're perfectly fine. They decided to watch _Scooby-Doo_. Why? Do you not trust my parenting skills?"

"No, no, that's not it. I just miss them, that's all." I sighed. It was hard to hear with the bass thumping so loud. "Can I talk to them?"

"Sure thing."

There was some muffling in the background, along with the sound of mumbling voices. I tapped my foot on the tile floor and waited. Moments later, I heard Aveline's voice ringing through the phone. "Hi mommy," she sang.

"Hi, sweetie. Are you having fun?"

It took her a minute to answer. "Yeah." She finally said.

"Remember to be a good girl, okay?"

"Okay."

"I miss you."

"I miss you too, mommy."

Aveline has never been much of a phone talker. She gets very distracted. Tonight, I assumed it was the television. I asked her to put Lucy on the phone, though I assumed I wouldn't get much response from her either. And I was right. I told her the same thing as Aveline. I said that I missed her, and that she needed to be good for her grandpa. She mostly just mumbled into the phone.

Charlie finally took the phone back. "They're completely zoned into the show. Don't take it personally."

"Oh, I know. I just wanted to hear their voices before bed." I smiled. "Happy New Years, dad. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Tomorrow." He agreed. "Happy New Years."

After we hung up, I fixed my hair in the mirror, and walked back into the living room, taking my seat on Edward's lap once again. His hand rested on my thigh while we watched Selena Gomez perform her new single on stage.

As the night got later, it also got better. We pulled out a game of Twister to pass the time after the ball had dropped in New York (we're a few hours behind). I was so happy I had decided on jeans, because when it came down to Alice and I as the final two, I ended up winning. Alice's dress was just a little too tight for bending down as low as she did, and the fabric tore. With a huge slit up the back of her dress, she fell onto the plastic mat, laughing.

Realizing I had won, I jumped up into Edward's arms. He kissed me and wrapped his arm around my waist, laughing at his sister, who was still on the floor laughing. She eventually excused herself to her room to change. She came back minutes later in a pair shorts and a festive top. She looked at me and nodded her head. "Rematch."

"You're on."

We endured three more rounds of this game. Alice and I were tied up until the last one, but the Andrew kid jumped in and beat the both of us. Needless to say, we were not expecting that; it was fun anyway. There was more drinking, laughing, and talking. I can honestly say that I was having a good time regardless of my previous predilection.

I felt warm and happy, like butterflies were dancing in my stomach. It was nearing 11:50 when we all decided it was time to head out to balcony and watch Seattle's version of Times Square. Alice's apartment has a perfect view of it life. People were huddled in the streets, drinking coffee, and huddling to stay warm. We stood happily on the balcony and anxiously awaited the new year.

Jasper pulled out a bottle of champagne and set glasses on the little table outside. Edward stood next to me, his hand wrapped around my waist.

I hadn't even thought about a new year's resolution - they always seem so cliché to me because nobody ever follows through with them. I decided not to make one. A new year shouldn't be an excuse to become someone you're not or make a decision you wouldn't have otherwise. I don't need a new year for that.

It was freezing outside, but the warmth from all of the people I loved around me made me forget about the shivers running through my body. I bit my lip as we entered the last minute of this year. People were already counting down from sixty. I waited until the last fifteen seconds to start screaming out our last sacred moments.

The clock stroke midnight. Everyone screamed Happy New Year. Jasper popped the bottle of champagne. The cork went flying into the street. With the open bottle still in hand, he kissed Alice, who was jumping up and down for joy.

Through the midst of the screaming, Edward and I shared our first kiss of the new year, then poured ourselves a glass of champagne. With a lipstick smudge on mine, I clinked my glass with Edward's and grinned. There was confetti in my hair, and I could hardly hear with the cheering, fireworks, and blasting music.

"To Australia."

Our glasses touched.

"To Australia."

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**I tried to make this longer but it didn't go quite that way. The next chapter should be pretty long. I'm really tired and kind of stressed out, so maybe that's why. I want to go running but it's late! It's also night, and I'm not a night owl. I'm a morning person...**

**How do you think Edward got those tickets? Let me know in your review! Make my night a little better? (: **

**Xoxo,  
Halley**


	6. What's Fair is Unfair

**Hey! Happy Sunday, everyone! I really like Sundays. Especially Sunday mornings. It's just a very relaxing, productive, and peaceful time of the week for me. (Even though I finished this at night. Sometimes I need a big break from writing chapters!)**

**Thanks for the reviews, story alerts, author favorites… all of that junk. ;)That was really nice of all of you, and I honestly can't thank you enough! If you're looking for a Halloween fanfic, I have one on my profile, and I think I may write a one-shot soon. Probably a vampire Edward and human Bella, which I never really do.**

**I hope you all enjoy this chapter! It's starting to come together…**

**(p.s. sorry for the big jump in time but we'd be here for months if I didn't skip!)**

* * *

_BPOV_

_Six months later…_

The clock was already blinking one in the morning, and I was still sitting on my laptop typing up an itinerary for our trip. Edward had gone to bed long ago; the girls were fast asleep, too. Even the dog was getting droopy eyed sitting next to me on the couch. I pet her head as I shot another Google search for 'things to do in Cairns, Australia.'

Jasper's job needed him in a city called Cairns, Australia. Though I had originally planned on going to one of the bigger cities - Sydney or even Perth - I found that Cairns wasn't half bad. The weather is a little warmer, and since we planned on going to the beach, it was practical; it's also cheaper, it's exotic, and it seems like there's plenty to do.

We're staying for a week and a half. I figured the day we got there would be good for sleeping and recovering from our extreme jet lag. That would also continue into the next day, which we would spend relaxing on the gorgeous beach.

There are rainforest tours, which looks fantastic as well - especially since all we ever see when we look out our window are skyscrapers. White Water Rafting sounds fun too, but I'm not sure if the kiddos are ready for even the mild route they have.

I blew air into my cheeks. What else could we do? There's shopping and movie theaters, but I can do that at home. I looked over at the clock again. The clock was nearing one thirty in the morning, and I hadn't gotten any further.

Out of pure frustration, I close my laptop and let out a deep breath. Next to me, the dog stirred in her sleep. I pulled the blanket a little closer to myself and stared up at the ceiling. One second I remember tracing the patterns of the curtains with my eyes, and the thing I knew, someone was licking my face.

Startled, I jumped up, gasping. The dog fell onto the floor at my sudden movement. I put my hand to my chest and breathed for a moment. "Damn dog." I muttered, then looked around the room. The sun was beginning to creep in through the curtains.

I didn't want to look at the time; something is telling me that it's early.

I made myself a huge glass of hot tea and snuggled on the couch with a blanket around my shoulders while I watched old episodes of _House_. Halfway into the episode, I heard footsteps padding through the house. I looked up at saw Lucy moping into the living room, rubbing her eyes, and dragging her blanket behind her. She came up right next to me and fell onto the couch, moaning as she did. I rubbed her back slowly and laughed to myself.

"Morning, Lucy."

She didn't move from the couch. I tried calling her name again - no response. I listened closely and heard her breathing deeply. She came all this way just to fall asleep again. I laughed again before I lay her on the couch properly.

Since_ House_ isn't appropriate for the little ones, I turned off the t.v., and wandered into my bedroom. Edward was passed out on the bed, taking up all possible space. He had clearly enjoyed having the bed to himself last night.

With a smirk, I pulled a corner of the blankets back and crawled into bed next to him, carefully moving his outstretched arms. He stirred, and rolled over the other side, as though subconsciously knowing I would be rejoining him. I curled up next to him and pressed my cold feet against his warm skin.

Almost instantly, his rolled onto his back and groaned irritably. "Why, Bella, _why_ do you this to me?"

"Well, good morning to you too." I grinned.

"Where did you go last night?" He asked me sleepily. "I was waiting for you…"

"Well, I meant to come back, but I ended up falling asleep on the couch." I sighed. "Needless to say, I didn't get much sleep. And my back is _killing_ me."

He then got very smug. "I would have helped you with that if you wouldn't have put your cold feet on my damn leg."

I rolled my eyes at him and changed the conversation. Today we're all getting our passports, then going out and buying bathing suits for the trip. It doesn't get very warm in Seattle, so everyone's bathing suits are old and worn out.

"Come on, out of bed. We have passports to get today." I reminded Edward as I put my hands on his chest and scooted closer. "For Australia…" Edward sat up to kiss my smiling lips. "So we should probably get going." I whispered after he kissed me again.

Edward groaned again. "But this is so much better."

"You mean you don't want to sit in a stupid office for hours filling out silly paperwork?"

"Oh, come on. It can't be _that_ much paperwork."

How I wished he was wrong.

The first thing we did when we walked into the building was fill out a small information sheet about our family. We then waited for twenty minutes while they processed it, then proceeded to bring us back into a cramped office where we met a man with ruddy cheeks and dark brown hair.

He shook both our hands very formally and then told us to sit down. The man barely spoke to us. He handed us a stack of paperwork and told us to fill it out, and then said that he'd be back in a bit to see how we were doing.

"Can't be that much my ass." I mumbled as soon as he closed the door. Edward didn't say anything. He took a pen that was sitting on the desk and start writing. I sighed and followed exactly as he did.

I filled out what seemed to be a mountain worth of paper work before we were finally able to take the picture. Once that was out of the way, I could successfully check 'get passports' off of my to-do-list.

Edward helped, which sped up the process a little. Half an hour into filling out information, the girls started to get restless from sitting down for so long. Lucy wiggled her way out of her chair and stumbled over to the other side of the room.

"Lucy, no, no. You need to sit down."

She ignored me and started playing with the huge leaves of the plant in the corner.

That's when Aveline jumped out of her chair, too, and went over to her sister. "You needa stop. Momma says no!"

I hadn't been paying much attention at this point, and neither had Edward. We were focused on getting out of here before all hell broke lose. Little did we know, it was only just getting started.

I didn't see what happened next. All I heard was the sound of Aveline shrieking "mommy she HIT ME!" I turned around just in time to see Ava push her sister right back. She landed against the wall she had been standing by with just enough force to make one of the framed portraits hanging came crashing down onto the floor, shattering into a million pieces. I dropped the pen I was holding and immediately rushed over.

Lucy started crying. Aveline did as well. I scooped Lucy into my arms and pulled her away from the broken glass. "Honey, are you okay?" I checked to make sure no glass had impaled her. "Oh, sweetheart…" She buried her face into my neck and continued crying.

"I didn't mean to, mommy." Aveline's bottom lip quivered as she stood by the door.

"I know, come here." I knelt down on the ground and held the both of them in my arms. Once they have calmed down from the initial shock of breaking the glass and nearly injuring themselves, I talked to them both about hitting. Edward came over to help, but I shooed him away with my hand. We needed that paperwork done as soon as possible.

"We don't hit each other. I don't care who hit who first. We. Don't. Hit. That's what happens when you put your hands on people." I pointed to the glass. "Now what do you say to each other?"

"Sorry." Aveline said.

"I sowrry." Lucy said.

"Now give each other a hug while mommy and daddy finish this up. I don't want another peep from the either of you. Do you understand?"

"What if I have to go to the potty?" Aveline asked.

"Then… then raise your hand."

She nodded her head, then threw her hand into the air. "Momma, I gotsa go potty."

I sighed, then put my hand on Edward's shoulder. "Sorry, babe. I'm going to take them to the bathroom. I'll be back in five." I kissed him on the cheek.

"That's fine. Oh, and Bella?" He grabbed my hand to stop me from walking away. "You handled that very nicely."

"You learn a lot when you're home with little kids all day." I shot him a wink before I led both of the girls out of the cramped office and down the hall. It was a single person bathroom, and there was a line to get in, so we had to wait.

I stood in the middle of them and held both of their hands'. This was definitely going to take more than five minutes. Oh well. If it gets me out of filling out boring paperwork, I'll take it.

Aveline started moving around impatiently.

"Stand still, Ava."

"But I _really_ gotsa go."

"Just another minute."

I wasn't sure if she was going to make it or not. She's only four, for god's sake; you can't expect that much of her. I secretly hoped that someone would let us skip them in line. I really didn't want to have two accidents within ten minutes of each other.

But, of course, nobody did. Despite the fact that I had a little girl who was about to bust a gut with me, they glanced at the three of us before they went into the bathroom. Eventually it was our turn, and Ava managed to go to the bathroom just in time.

I made Lucy go as well, though she isn't quite as familiar with using a toilet as her sister is. She still went, and a gave her a high-five afterwards. Once hands were washed, we all walked out of the bathroom and headed back to the office.

Something stopped me in my tracks. I heard yelling from down the hall. I listened closely, and as we approached the door, I realized that one of the voices yelling was from Edward. I stood in front of the girls and put my hear to the door.

" - need to learn to control your kids!"

"Maybe it's not a good idea to have things like that hanging in an office that kids are _supposed _to come to."

"It's not _my_fault that you and your girlfriend made a mistake in high school and now you don't know how to handle them." The other voice snarled. "Now my damn stuff is broken because of your - "

"Stay right here, okay?" I whispered to Ava and Lucy. They both nodded.

I yanked the door open and stepped into the doorway. "What's going on here?"

Edward and the man both looked at each other. It was the same man from earlier, the one who had given us the paperwork to fill out. "I'm sorry, ma'am. I was just speaking to your boyfriend about what happened with the - "

"First of all, he's my _husband_." I spat. "And second of all, you will not speak to him like that, or about my children in that way. So I suggest that you sit down and move on with this appointment before I get nasty with you."

The man was stunned. Too stunned to even speak. Rather than talk back to me, he cleared his throat, and apologized. "You're right. I'm sorry to the both of you." Our eyes both locked. His gleam was familiar, and for a moment I was almost certain that I had seen him before. Before I had time to put it together, he looked back at Edward. "So, about that trip of yours…"

I tossed it to the back of my mind and brought the kids back in. Rather than leave them in the two chairs behind us, I had Aveline on my lap while Edward had Lucy on his. We talked to the man about where we were going and for how long, mostly small talk, before we took pictures for the passport.

Aveline and Lucy were pretty calm after the whole glass ordeal, so it wasn't a problem sitting them down to take a picture. They both had toothy grins and big green eyes - the kind of pictures we would tease them for later in life. Today will definitely go down as a story in the memory book.

Lacking the photogenic quality, I took a very awkward looking picture (my eyes looked squinty), and Edward took one that looked exactly like his driver's license. After that, we were pretty much good to go. They handed us all four passports, which I put in my purse for safe keeping, and the appointment was over.

"Once again, sorry for everything." The man apologized once again as he shook my hand. "It was a pleasure meeting with you."

I shook his hand. "No problem…"

He shook hands with Edward, and that was that. We walked out of the building and headed to the Volvo. The past hour or so had been nothing but pure stress that I wasn't even sure if I felt like bathing suit shopping anymore. The other part of me wanted to get all the preparations over with. Before I had time to weigh my options, we had pulled into the Target parking lot.

Edward got a cart to push around. Lucy sat in the actual seat, while we put Aveline in the cart so she could "guard our things." I let them both pick which bathing suit they wanted to wear.

Aveline choice an electric blue halter top that covered most of her stomach with a matching blue skirt-looking bottom. Both pieces had a big ribbon and flowers dancing on the suit. Lucy, on the other hand, opted for a baby pink one piece with ruffles. It had a princess feel to it, while Aveline's was more bright and fun.

Happy that they had a say in what they would wear, and more than likely tired from the days events, the girls were both tired as we walked around the store. I grabbed onto Edward's arms as we headed towards the adult bathing suits.

"I'm so excited to go." I practically sang. "What hotel are we staying in, again?"

"It's a surprise."

"What do you mean it's a surprise?" I asked. My mind then instantly went into 'worst scenario possible' mode. "Wait. Oh, god. You haven't gotten a room yet."

"Of course I have!" Edward reassured me. I let out a deep breath. _Thank god. _"I just want you to be surprised when we get there."

"Please?" I smiled, and threw a hint of sweetness into my voice. Edward, recognizing my tactics to get information out of him, simply grinned and shook his head no. "You know, I don't care if we have to stay in a Motel 6."

Edward laughed. "We're not staying in a Motel 6. I'm not even sure if they have that chain in Australia."

I rolled my eyes and looked at another bathing suit. This one had blue bottoms with buttons on them and a contrasting deep orange, strapless top. Odd as is sounded, it was only twenty dollars, so I picked it up.

"I said you could go and buy yourself a nice bathing suit. I don't expect you to shop at Target."

"Need I remind you that we're going on a trip to _Australia_. That's already going to burn a hole in our pocket, and besides," I ran my finger over the fabric of the swimsuit, "I've never been much of a Dolce & Gabbana fan. I'm a Target kind of girl."

Edward sighed in defeat. "Alright, if you're sure. But if you won't let me get you an expensive bathing suit, can I least treat you to coffee?"

I smiled. "Fair is fair."

* * *

**Kind of an abrupt ending? Oh well. We're getting close to AUSTRALIA! Just a few short chapters away. I know I have a lot of Australian readers, so your input would be fantastic for this story. (:**

**Guys there has been a lot of foreshadowing throughout this story and even in LMLLH and it's _so_ killing me because I want to reveal stuff already! So stay with me. Give me another few chapters. It'll get good. ****I'm wondering if any of you have put anything together yet…? There are a few things mentioned that seem like "eh, okay, whatever" but they're actually SO CRUCIAL! (Sorry. Ranting again.) **

**Anyway, thanks for reading this chapter. You're great for that! Have a fantastic morning, day, night, week… all of that.**

**Xoxo,  
Halley.**


	7. Come Back Over

**Yikes. It's been a while since I've updated! Sorry about that. I've just been super busy, but now my cross country season is over, so things should be settling down. Thanks for all of the reviews last chapter! That was so nice of you.**

* * *

_WAKE UP, SEATTLE! IT'S FOUR THIRTY IN THE MORNING AND SIXTY DEGREES ON A FRIDAY MORNING, AND WE'RE LOOKING AT - _

"Ugh," I groaned and slammed my hand on the alarm clock. "It's too early for this shit."

Beside me, Edward groaned as well.

Today is the day that we leave for Australia. After months of preparation, shopping, and counting down the days, it's finally here. And as excited as I am, my body is refusing to get out of bed. "Ten more minutes," I mumbled. "Just ten…"

"No," Edward said as he flipped on the bedside table. I hid my face in the darkness of my pillow. "We've got to get ready to go for Australia…" I could hear him smiling as he said this. He kissed my back and turned me around so he was inches from my face when I opened my eyes.

"If you love me, you'll let me sleep."

"No, if I love you," he kissed my nose, "then I won't let you miss our flight."

Dammit. Why does he always have to be right? Because he's _Edward_, I answered myself.

Very slowly, I kicked the blankets off of myself and got out of bed. My arms and legs felt stiff from sleep. As I stretched, Edward pulled a pair of jeans onto his lanky hips. We had packed all of our bags last night. The only problem now is getting to the airport on time, and since we have incredibly bad luck with timing, we decided to wake up extra early to make our flight.

We even had a system down. While Edward packed up the car, I got myself ready, as well as the girls. I made the girls eat a big bowl of oatmeal, and dressed them in travel clothes. I drank three cups of coffee, made two for Edward, and munched on a protein bar as I led the girls down to the Volvo where Edward was waiting.

"Coffee," I said as I handed Edward both of the cups. "And the kids. You have all of the bags?"

"Yes ma'am." He nodded his head.

I checked the time. So far, so good. In fact, we're ahead of schedule. Not wanting to ruin our string of good luck, we buckled in Aveline and Lucy, got in, and headed for the airport.

I couldn't believe this was actually happening. Us going to Australia - it all still feels like a dream to me. This is our first big family vacation, and I'm determined to make the absolute best out of it.

We hadn't predicted there being traffic, but, of course, there was. It threw us off a little, which worried me. I tapped my foot as we sat in bumper-to-bumper traffic at god knows how early in the morning.

"We're going to be late…"

"No, we're not," Edward reassured me.

Won't be late my ass. When we got to the airport, our plan was taking off in less than forty-five minutes. We literally ran to check in, got yelled at by a security guard for doing so, and had to speed walk like we never had before.

Aveline and Lucy didn't understand the concept of the metal detectors. They kept sprinting through them like it was a game until the guards finally gave up. We got our stuff and raced to our terminal. This time, no security guard yelled at us, and thank god for that, because if one had, we would have missed our flight.

We jumped onboard just as they were closing the gates. I put my hand to my heart and took in a deep breath. "Jesus Christ," I said to myself. "That was close."

"Happy I didn't let you sleep in?" Edward teased. I rolled my eyes and hit him in the arm.

Our seats were in the very back, and we were lucky enough to get four seats next to each other. I put Aveline in first, then Lucy right beside her and Edward was on the aisle, while I was between them both.

The plane was pretty dark, and nobody seemed to be talking. Except, of course, for Ava and Lucy. They were sitting next to each other laughing like it was the middle of the day. A few people shot us some looks. I ignored them. They're little girls for goodness sake.

They settled down a little once we took off. They pretended like we were on a rollercoaster and screamed when we took off (again, we got some nasty looks), but once we were soaring through the sky, they quieted down.

An hour into the flight, I ordered the girls, who were still awake, some hot chocolate. Most people were still asleep, so she came back fairly quickly with the order.

"Here are those hot chocolates you asked for," the flight attendant said as she swung by. She handed them to Edward, who carefully placed them on Ava and Lucy's trays. They both squealed in excitement and reached for them.

"No, no," I stopped them. "You need to wait for it to cool down first."

Lucy clearly wasn't happy about that. She folded her arms over her chest and scrunched her face. Before I could intervene, tears were streaming down her face, and she was beginning one of her famous temper tantrums.

I looked at Edward for help. Anywhere but here. I don't want to be _that _family. And so Edward, leaned down to Lucy's level and whispered something to her. I couldn't hear what he said, or how it made her stop, but she seemed to loosen up and relax. It was a miracle before my very eyes.

I rested into his arm and smiled when he wrapped his arm around my shoulder. I find it funny how the little things like that still get to me, and how he's never stopped doing them for me.

The kids were quiet - looking out the window, or possibly lost in their own fairytale thoughts - and I had never felt so comfortable thousands of feet in the air. I felt exhaustion begin to take over me. I stifled a yawn as I looked up at Edward, who was now playing with a piece of my hair.

"Mommy?" I heard Aveline asked a few minutes later.

"Mmm?"

"Is my chocolate cold now?"

I felt Edward chuckle, and I found myself laughing as well. "Yes, baby. You can drink your chocolate now."

* * *

A whopping seventeen hours later, we safely landed in Australia. I woke the girls up just in time to tell them to look out of the window as we hit the ground. Their sleep filled eyes were full of awe as they saw the city get closer and closer….

I grabbed onto Edward's hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.

"We're here," I whispered excitedly.

"We are," he grinned and squeezed my hand right back.

The next part was probably the most annoying part of the plane ride. Departing took for forever, and on top of that, we each had to carry one kid along with all of our carry-ons since the stroller is with our suitcases.

People walked slower than molasses as they walked off. I wanted to rip my hair off or scream at everyone - maybe even both. Waiting in line is the last thing I want to do after a plane ride for that long.

We eventually made it off, and when we did, we had to get our suitcases (another twenty minutes), then get our rental car (fifty minutes). I was grateful we had the stroller to put the girls in, because I wouldn't have been able to hold Lucy for much longer.

The only car they had left was a minivan, and we gladly took it. Any car is better than no car. And besides, if I'm ever going to get another car, it's going to be one like this. As I found out, it's so much easier to get kids into car seats in a minivan. Buckling them up in the Volvo is a tight space.

They were still fast asleep even after getting in the car. I'd rather than sleep today than tomorrow when we're out having fun. That would ruin the pretty beach, waves, sun, and sand.

The area next to the airport was packed with hotels, restaurants, and malls. But much to my surprise, we zoomed past it all. I knew that Alice was staying in the Embassy Suits that we had just flew by. I was tempted to ask him where exactly we were, but decided to keep my mouth shut. He had seemed so excited about whatever this… _place _is.

The lights and buzz from the city slowly faded as we drove further and further away. Trees lines either side of the empty road and I was instantly reminded of Forks at the claming sight.

"How much longer?" I finally asked.

"Maybe about fifteen minutes," Edward said. "Not too much longer, I promise."

I nodded my head and glanced in the rearview mirror. Aveline and Lucy's heads were both hanging to the side, eyes closed, breathing heavily. The long airplane ride had drained them. That may mess with our plans of going to the beach, but at least it gives me a chance to rest up for tomorrow.

I pulled my phone out of my bag and shot Alice a text saying that we had made it here alright, then put it back down. I wasn't going to be that mom who stays on her phone all vacation long - those people annoy me. In my mind, vacation time is family time.

Much to my excitement, we pulled into a long, bumpy driveway. I looked up and saw a gray brick house with enormous windows and both stories. There were steps leading up to a was a wraparound porch, and a balcony on the second floor. I stared up in awe: a modern, tropic paradise.

I quickly looked over at Edward. "How the hell did you - "

"People rent out houses, Bella. Sometimes it's even cheaper than a hotel room." He shrugged his shoulders as though shaking off the conversation. "Come on, you have to see inside."

I put two bags over my shoulder, and scooped Lucy into my arms. I had to wake Aveline up, because there was no way I could carry two kids up those steps. She wasn't very happy with me at first, but when I told her that we were in Australia, her eyes lit out, and she scrambled out of the van.

Edward walked behind me as I walked up the steps, one had on the small of my back to make sure that I didn't fall. I quickly put Lucy down on the first couch I saw then dropped the bags on the hardwood floor.

I took a step back to admire the home.

The walls were white and glossy, and popped in comparison to the dark hardwood floors. Coming from the door, a glorious winding staircase led to the second floor. There was a huge kitchen with new appliances, spacious family room with a leather couch, and a dining room. Even though it was raining, light shone in through the spacious windows, and somehow made the place feel even more luxurious.

"Damn," I whispered.

"You like it?" Edward said from behind me, putting his hands on my waist.

I leaned my head into his chest and closed my eyes. "Yes," I hummed. "It's so pretty."

"Better than that Motel 6," he chuckled.

"Much." I opened my eyes and turned to look at him. "How did we pay for it? I love it, but I feel like it's out of our budget…"

"Don't worry about the price, love," Edward said. "I don't want you to think about money. We're on vacation, this is supposed to be fun." He kissed me on the cheek. "I'm going to get the rest of the bags."

I opened my mouth to say something, but he was already out the door. I sighed heavily and put my hands in my pocket. Aveline, who had seemed so excited about finally arriving, was already asleep on the couch next to her sister. Outside it was still dark and gloomy. So much for a great start. I checked my phone to see if Alice had answered - no new messages. She _had _mentioned something about a work dinner with Jasper…

Edward came back in with the bags a moment later. Just as I was about to ask him what he wanted to do tonight, he was fumbling with the car keys like he was getting ready to leave.

I frowned. "Where are you going?"

"I have to head back into town and check in through the company they rented the house though," he explained as he dropped the keys into his pocket.

"Can't you just call?" I grabbed onto his arm and stepped closer to him. "The kids are asleep, so I was thinking we could spend some time together…"

Edward grinned. "How about when I get back?"

I felt a blush creeping onto my cheeks. He caressed my face and leaned down to kiss me gently. Our lips lingered for a moment - I hadn't wanted to kiss him this badly in what seemed like a while. I locked my fingers with his and smiled as he slowly walked away. He waved as he popped out of the door and headed for the car.

I looked at the clock, which was blinking 7:55.

The kids were still passed out. I didn't want to wake them up, but still, it didn't feel right not to feed them. As I unpacked the food we brought, I put together some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and put them on two plates. Once the food was stored away, I brought the food to Aveline and Lucy, who were dead asleep on the couch.

"Ava," I whispered as I shook her. She stirred in her sleep and turned to the other side. "I have some food, sweetheart. You need to eat." I did the same with Lucy, who was surprisingly more responsive than her sister.

At the sound of food, Lucy opened her green eyes. I smiled and handed her the sandwich. Slowly and sleepily, she sat up and bit into it. Aveline, on the other hand, refused to wake up. She, being her stubborn self, groaned and shrugged me off. I sighed and ate it for myself instead.

Lucy ate half her sandwich before she fell asleep with it in her hand. Clearly they hadn't been in the mood for eating tonight. I grabbed some baby wipes from the diaper bag and wiped Lucy's hand and face before I carried her upstairs.

I had to open a few doors to find a good room for them. There was one with two twin beds that would work perfectly. I dropped Lucy on the bed closet to me, turned on the bedside lamp, and pulled off her shoes. She hardly seemed to notice, and crawled under the blankets once I was done.

I then went back downstairs for Aveline. Even though she's much too heavy for me, I scooped her into my arms and (barely) managed to carry her upstairs. She nearly fell out of my arms when we reached the bed, and I had to take a minute to stretch my back afterwards.

As I was pulling off her shoes, I heard her giggle.

"Aveline, were you awake that whole time?"

More giggling. I sighed.

"My legs are tired, momma," she wined. "I didn't wanna walk."

"You silly goose." I smiled. "Promise me you'll go to sleep?"

"I promise." Her 'r' sounded more like a 'w.'

I kissed her goodnight then walked down the hall to the master bedroom. It was one of the most beautiful bedrooms I had ever seen. The floor was a soft, creamy white that felt amazing on my bare feet, and on the far wall was a set of French doors that led to a balcony. The walls were burgundy; big windows; and a king sized bed on the left wall.

_My god. _I thought to myself. _This is… gorgeous._

But once I had gotten over the initial shock, my mind jumped right back to one thing: price. How much Edward had spent was really beginning to worry me. He hadn't even told me about the place to begin with, too. I thought back to him telling me to enjoy myself and not worry about money, but I couldn't do that. The words 'do not worry' aren't in my vocabulary.

Then again, maybe he's right. Maybe I should trust him and just enjoy myself for once - act like I got that Dolce and Gabbana bikini, not the one from Target.

"Stop it, Bella," I said aloud. "You're being stupid."

I paced around the room. Damn, was that carpet soft. It felt like my feet were walking on a cloud. I pulled open the doors to the bathroom and bit my lip to stop myself from gasping.

Of course, it was beautiful. Porcelain white jet tub, and a glass shower with electronic temperature gauge. I closed my eyes and put my hand to my chest. Taking a deep breath, I thought, _enjoy yourself._

And, I did.

I ran myself a hot bubble bath and turned on the jets. The pounding felt amazing against my bare skin, especially after such a long and uncomfortable plane ride. My thick hair was up and off of my back, the kids were in bed, and Edward would be home soon. I contemplated doing something special for him - to say thank you for such a nice trip. Dim the lights, light some candles, maybe some lingerie….

Already pleased at the sound of that, I got out of the tub, and slipped into a robe. I searched the house for some candles, which they luckily had, and brought them up to the bedroom. I lit them, dimmed the lights, and searched through my bag for something to wear. Luckily I had packed a few things to wear, one of which was perfect for tonight.

I shook my hair out and sat on the bed ready to go. I checked my phone to see if he had texted or called me since leaving. So far, nothing. This surprised me - it's been about an hour since he left.

So I unpacked. Drank a glass of water. Read a book. Unpacked some more. Ate some pretzels. Walking around the house. Called my dad, and drank another glass of water. The clock kept ticking, but he still wasn't coming.

Even with the pretty candles, it didn't feel right. It's been three hours now since Edward left and he's still not bad. I didn't know whether I should be worried or irritated - maybe both. I ran my hands through my hair and fell back onto the comfortable sheets.

I lay there waiting for what seemed like forever. Just me and the sound of rain hitting the window. The clock was blinking ten o'clock now. I closed my eyes for second, and ended up falling asleep alone for the first time in years.

* * *

**I'm so tired and I've had such a bad day. Cheer me up with some reviews? They always make me smile… (:**

**Xoxo,  
Halley**


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